Legacy Rewind
by rosenquist
Summary: An alternative ending of the episode Legacy. Going crazy isn't the only side effect of Daniel. He'll need a guardian, but will Jack be able to get full custody? Kid fic. Thank you Lyn T for the Cover Art.
1. Chapter 1

Legacy Rewind

**By Rosenquist  
**

**A/N: Set in season 3. Alternative story to the episode Legacy. A slight crossover with the TV show, **_**JAG**_**. I wrote this story about 6 years ago and I first got to me that I haven't posted it here. Sorry about that. The story was written for a Zine and since it's been way over a year I'm allowed to post it. There's also a finished sequel. I'm in Stargate SG-1 mood again so I hope I can get my muse to cooperate with me fully again, so I can finish some unfinished stories of mine, that has been waiting way too long to be finished.**

**Thank you Sarah W for the first prompt line, for the Challenge: **_**"Three doctorates, and I still have to take naps," the boy muttered crossly.**_

I want to give my thanks to Annie and Lyn for betaing my story. Your help is greatly appreciated. Should there still be errors in this story, they are all mine and no one else is to be blamed.

**Summary: Machello's goa'uld killing bugs have an unfortunate side effect aside from symptoms of schizophrenia, to those who don't have a snake in them. This side effect causes Daniel to need a guardian, but sadly Jack isn't the only one who wants custody of him.**

Chapter 1: "Nap time"

"Three doctorates, and I still have to take naps," the boy muttered crossly. Daniel stood defiantly in front of Jack. His arms were crossed around himself, not in the self-hug way, that he usually did, but in a protest way, of Jack's demand that he should take a nap, and he was so not looking like he was a happy camper at all.

"Well, Daniel, your body isn't what it was only a few days ago. After your downsizing to a four year old, your body needs more rest than it did when you were a grownup," a very determined Colonel said.

"But, Jack, why do I have to take a nap in your office? Why can't I take it in my own?" Daniel whined.

"Because, Daniel, I know you too well. As soon as I'll turn my back on you, you'll get up and go back to your work and that is not acceptable."

"But why does it have to be in your **office**? I think I could sleep better in a VIP room," Daniel said.

Jack looked at Daniel suspiciously. Daniel looked like he was planning something that he didn't want Jack to know about and Jack had an idea what it was.

"I heard that!"

"What? What did I say?" Daniel said and raised his shoulders and arms interrogatively.

"That you will sneak out and go back to your office."

"I didn't say that, Jack," Daniel said, rolling his eyes.

"No, you didn't, but you thought about it," Jack said, pointing a finger at Daniel.

"No, I didn't," Daniel said, and Jack noticed that he tried to look as innocent as he could, though he failed miserably.

"Oh, you sure did, Daniel. As I just said, I know you too well."

"So, since when did you become telepathic?" Daniel asked with a pout.

"Since I met you, Daniel, since I met you. Besides, if I did let you sleep in a VIP room, I'd have an airman outside the door, but because of the nightmares you've been suffering about you being locked up in a giant, padded cell, with giant needles, I think it's better that you take a nap near me. So that I can be there for you, if you have one," Jack said, hiding the shudder he felt when he remembered the previous few nights, when he'd had to calm down a crying, frightened Danny.

"But I'm not tired. Please, Jack, let me go to my office and finish the translation I'm working on."

Jack noticed that Daniel wouldn't say any more about his nightmares and he didn't blame him.

'Yeah, you're not tired, all right,' Jack thought sarcastically, as he noticed Daniel's red eyes and the yawn he was trying his best to hide. "Sorry, kiddo. End of discussion. Bed now!" Jack said while he firmly pointed Daniel toward the portable cot that was kept ready for Daniel's naps.

"That's so unfair. Cassie wasn't forced to take naps when she came here and she was really a kid. I'm not really a kid, you know that, Jack."

"No, not intellectually, but physically and emotionally you are. Cassie was older than you are now and she played with toys and allowed herself to be a kid and didn't try to work 24/7 like a certain mini-archaeologist."

"But, but—"

"No buts, Daniel," Jack said firmly and he helped Daniel get his pants off and tucked him in.

"Since when have you become my Dad? You're too bossy for my liking." Daniel pouted again.

"Since you joined SG-1, Daniel. You could have gotten one that was far worse than me." 'Like Dr. McKenzie, and there is a big risk that is going to happen, if he gets his way, in the upcoming custody battle, but not if I can help it.' Jack pushed his dark worry away to be dealt with later. Getting Daniel to rest was more important right now.

It took only few minutes before Daniel fell asleep. Jack stayed by Daniel's side for a while, enjoying the sight of the sleeping kid, who looked so cute, innocent, and vulnerable. He took Daniel's right hand in his and rubbed it gently with his thumb. He couldn't believe that this so small child's hand has been a big adult hand, not so long ago.

"I promise you, Daniel. I'll protect you the best I can and be there for you. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for your adult self and that I didn't stop them from locking you up," he whispered to the sleeping boy.

Later, he went to his desk and dialled a number in Washington DC.

"Harm. Jack here. I need your help as a JAG officer, but before you say yes, you'll have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. If you're going to become my lawyer, you'll get to know some major top secrets… No, I didn't murder anyone. No, I'm not being court-martialled, because of disobedience. It's about the custody of a very important and special four year old boy…"

There was silence from the phone for a few seconds. "Harm, are you still there? Yes, you understood me right. I want custody of the kid. He's very important to me. I was just told today that someone I don't like, well, someone I despise, to tell you the truth, is going to sue for custody as well, and believe me, he hasn't the boy's best interests at heart. He wants to study the kid. The kid is a boy genius among other things. I can't tell you more till you've signed the agreements. Are you able to get to Colorado Springs tomorrow? Great, thanks, Harm. See you tomorrow. Bye."

Jack placed the phone back on the desk and buried his head in his hands. He couldn't believe that almost a week ago, he had Daniel, then still an adult, committed to mental health and just now he had forced the child Daniel to take a nap. And soon he was going to court to fight for custody of him. A battle he hoped he would win, for his own sake, and especially for Daniel's, because he knew what Daniel's first childhood had been like after his parents' deaths. He dreaded the day when he had to tell Danny about the upcoming custody battle. He was so not looking forward to that. He was sure that Daniel wouldn't be at all happy at the prospect of becoming Doctor and Mrs. McKenzie's foster child.


	2. Chapter 2

Legacy Rewind Chapter 2

"**Down the memory lane"**

A few days ago

General Hammond had just told Jack that Daniel wanted to see him at the mental health facility and that Doctor McKenzie had told him that there was a change with Daniel, but what kind of change, Jack wondered. He was worried that Daniel was in a much worse condition than he had been when they visited him in his padded cell only a few hours before. Jack hadn't thought that Daniel could get any worse than he already was.

Jack was about to ask the General what kind of changes there were, but Dr. Fraiser beat him to it.

"What changes, sir? Did Dr. McKenzie say?"

"I hope that there hasn't been a change for the worse. He was a mess already, when we left him at the hospital, sir," Jack said.

"McKenzie didn't elaborate. Let's hope it's a positive sign. Yes, Dr. Jackson has been through enough in the years we have known him, "the General said.

"Yeah, that he has. Well, I'd better go, sir. I'll let you know how Daniel is after my visit," Jack replied.

"You do that, Colonel. Give an update as soon as you can."

"I will, sir," Jack said, and left.

~oOo~

At the administration desk, Jack was told that Dr. McKenzie wanted to talk to him, before he visited Daniel.

Jack stood for a few minutes outside Dr. McKenzie's office. He was afraid to go in and find out how bad Daniel's condition really was. Finally, he knocked on the door and was asked to come in.

"Doctor. You wanted to talk to me? I hope that Daniel isn't worse,"

Jack asked.

Dr. McKenzie offered him to take a seat and said, "No, Colonel. It looks like he is more coherent, but don't get your hopes up too high. I'm not sure that he is on the mend. He's claiming that something went inside him a few days ago, then went into to Teal'c when you all visited him. I promised him when I called the SGC and was told that Teal'c was sick, I'd let him have a visit from you again. I thought that it was only another one of his delusions, so I was pretty much shocked when General Hammond told me that Teal'c was indeed sick. So it looks like Dr. Jackson was right that something may have entered Teal'c, but we have to take into consideration that Dr. Jackson could have suffered some permanent side effects from it. So we need to keep him under observation for a while and I think it'll be best to keep him here, but in a regular room, instead of the padded cell, and let him get some rest, observe him to see if he still needs the antipsychotic medication."

"Doctor, if Daniel is better, and if it was an alien form that was in him, and is now in Teal'c, I think it's better that he comes with me to the SGC. Dr. Fraiser can keep him under observation. She is, after all, more experienced with aliens than you are."

"Maybe she is, but I'm more experienced with mental illnesses than her, and as it is a side effect to this alien technology, I think that Dr. Jackson will be in better hands here at the hospital."

"Well, let's discuss this after I've seen and talked to Daniel."

"We can do that, but I won't change my mind. I'll ask an aide to take you to Daniel's room."

Irritated, Jack stormed out of Dr. McKenzie's office.

~oOo~

Outside the door of Daniel's padded cell, Jack waited nervously while the aide unlocked the door. Jack walked into the room, but he couldn't see Daniel anywhere. He could, oddly, only see hospital scrub pants and a pair of boxer shorts. _Weird, _he thought to himself. _Where the hell could he be hiding?_

"Daniel, where are you? You'd better get your pants and boxers back on. I'm not interested in you mooning me. I promise I'll close my eyes and you can come out of your hiding place, wherever that is, and get dressed decently or else!"

"I tried to keep them on, Jack, but they kept falling down, "said a small, high pitched voice.

"Daniel? Your voice sounds funny. Are your allergies bugging you? Wait a minute… What do you mean they keep falling down? You've only been in here for a few days, and I just saw you a few hours ago. You can't have already lost that many pounds in that short period of time." Jack was worried that Daniel was still delusional.

"Well, I have ,Jack. I've not only lost a lot of weight, but also height. I've been shrunk."

Oh no. Daniel is really still delusional, Jack thought.

"Maybe I should call for a nurse, to let her help you get dressed and give you some more medication. It looks like you really need your meds at the moment," Jack said worriedly.

"No, please, Jack. Don't call them. Don't worry, you won't see any of my private parts, because the top scrub is now so long that it reaches down to my feet."

"To your feet? Daniel, I think it's best that I call for some help, so that you can get some meds…"

"No, please, Jack!" Daniel said, emerging from his hiding place. He tried to run to Jack, but he tripped over the scrub top and fell right in front of Jack's feet.

Jack couldn't believe his eyes. In front of him, on the floor was a very small figure, with scrubs that was tangled around its feet.

"Daniel? Is that really you?" Jack said, bending down and helped the little guy up to his feet. When he looked very closely, he was shocked to see it wasn't just a very small person… It was a child. A very small child who looked between three and four years of age. How could they keep so young a child in a padded cell?

"Sorry, kid. I thought that you were a friend of mine. Looks like the aide didn't know that my friend was transferred to another ce- eh, room.

"It's really me, Jack. I'm Daniel!"

"Sure, kid… I'll call the aide. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, kid."

"Please believe me, Jack. I'm really your friend and colleague from SG-1-"

"What! How do you know about SG-1?"

"Because, Jack, I am Doctor Daniel Jackson. I was the one who opened the Stargate and saved your life on Abydos, when you were on a suicide mission after losing your son, Charlie…"

Jack bent down and looked closely at the kid. He had deep blue eyes like Daniel. Yeah, he could see some resemblance there, but could this really be true? That this was Daniel, not only shrunken, but de-aged too? How could that be possible? But then he remembered how he'd been aged dramatically on the planet PX… whatever. Since he could age that quickly, maybe the opposite could happen too.

"Daniel? Is that really you?"

"Yes, Jack. It's really me. Please, Jack. Get me out of here. This place is really scary. Especially now I'm this small," Daniel said, tears falling down his cheeks.

Jack was surprised when the little kid flew into his arms and wrapped his arms around Jack's neck, burying his head under Jack's chin. On reflex, Jack wrapped his arms around the scared little kid.

"It's okay, Danny. I'll get you out of this hell hole and we'll try to find out a way to un-shrink you. Carter will know what to do."

Jack could feel dampness on his shirt from Daniel's tears. The kid had finally stopped sobbing and was now hiccupping, and between his hiccups, he asked, "You promise, to get me out of here?"

"Yes, Daniel. I promise," Jack said. He lifted Daniel up in his arms and settled him on his hip, then walked to the door and hammered on it to get the attention of the aides.

"Jack, remember. I don't have any underwear on," Daniel whispered in his ear.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry about that, Danny. As you said, the top scrub covers your private parts very well. I promise, as soon as we get out of here, I'll help you get some underwear that fits. Okay?"

"I know, but when you are carrying me, it's embarrassing to know that I haven't any underpants on…" Daniel said, blushing.

"Okay. If you feel that way, we'll just have to adjust the scrub pants," Jack said. He placed Daniel back on the floor and picked up the pants.

"Can you lift the top up for me, Danny?"

Daniel blushed in embarrassment and said, "I can't do that, Jack. Then you can see my-You know… It's must be very small now, like, very tiny. So please, Jack, turn around and let me try for myself."

"Daniel. Don't be so modest. You know, I helped Charlie with his baths, so there's nothing I haven't seen before. Didn't you tell me that you already tried to keep them on?"

"Yeah… But I'm not really a child, Jack. I'm just shrunk, you know. I haven't looked, but I think it's only the size that's different."

"Sorry to tell you, Daniel, but you've not just shrunk, you've also de-aged. So you're a kid now. Come on, Daniel. I promise I won't make fun of your private parts and I'll hurry and cover it without staring at it."

"That can't be true, Jack. I'm not a kid! I can't be! I hated being a kid the first time around and I'm not going to be one again! No way!" Daniel shouted.

"Daniel! Please calm down. Do you want Dr. McKenzie to come in with a needle again?"

"No. Please no!"

"Then calm down."

"Okay, I'll try."

"Good. Let's get to work, before the aides come."

Jack hurried as promised to cover Daniel's lower region with the scrub pants without making fun of him. Just as he was finished, the aides came in. They got the shock of their lives. They certainly didn't expect to see a kid in here instead of Dr. Jackson.

"Colonel, where is Jackson? And what is the kid doing here?" one of the aides asked.

"Well, this little fella here is Dr. Daniel Jackson," Jack said, picking the boy up in his arms once again and about to walk out the cell.

The aides looked at Jack looking like they were wondering about his sanity.

"Sir?"

"Get Dr. McKenzie. I want to talk to him ASAP."

"Sir?" Jack looked at the airman in irritation. "Sorry, sir. We'll get him… sir," the airman said and they walked away.

~oOo~

A few minutes later, Dr. McKenzie came and he met Jack and Daniel outside the padded room.

"Colonel. Can you explain what you're doing here with a child in your arms? This isn't the place for a toddler! And by the way, what is the boy doing in hospital scrubs?"

"I'm not a toddler, Dr. McKenzie! It's me, Dr. Daniel Jackson. I'm not a boy. I'm just shrunk!" the very irritated young man in Jack's arms said.

Dr. McKenzie looked bewildered at the boy and then at the Colonel.

"Colonel?"

"Yes, Doctor. This is Dr. Daniel Jackson and I better get him to the SGC. We need to find out how he got shrunk and find out how to un-shrink him again. In the meantime, I hope we can find out what is wrong with Teal'c and help him too.

"If this child is really Dr. Jackson, Colonel, then I think it's best that he stays here and…"

"No way in hell! I'm not leaving him behind again. I'm leaving this place now and I'm taking the boy with me, and don't you dare and try to stop me, Doctor!"

While Jack walked down the corridor, he heard Dr. McKenzie and the aides talking.

"Shall we stop the Colonel, Dr. McKenzie?" one of the airman asked.

"No. We better not cross his path at the moment or I'm afraid we'll be sorry. I have some paperwork to finish, and when that's done, I'm going back to the SGC. Dismissed."

_Good, they aren't going to stop me, taking the boy out of here. McKenzie was right, if they tried, they would really be sorry_, Jack thought.

~oOo~

Before Jack walked out of the building, he placed Daniel on the floor and took his jacket off, wrapping it around Daniel, because it was a little chilly outside. After he had wrapped his jacket around Daniel, he picked him up again and walked out. Daniel was hiding his head in Jack's shoulder, because the hospital staff and visitors looked curiously at Jack, no doubt because of the oddly dressed kid in his arms. Jack just ignored them.

He placed Daniel on the passenger seat and thought that he better buy a booster seat ASAP, because he couldn't strap Daniel safely in the seat with the seatbelt. He did the best as he could, then closed the passenger door and climbed into the driver's seat. Before Jack turned the engine on, he asked Daniel, "Are you ready to leave this place, Danny?"

"Am I ready? Drive already, Jack. Please!"

"Okay, okay, Danny. I'll drive. Before we go to the SGC, we better make a quick stop at the mall and get you some clothes and some other stuff." Like a booster seat for one, Jack thought, but he was afraid to tell Daniel about that. He was sure that Daniel wasn't going to like being in a booster seat, but his safety came first, before his pride, that he would make sure of.

"Yeah, maybe we should do that. It'll be to embarrassing to walk into the SGC in this outfit," Daniel said while he pointed at his scrubs under Jack's jacket. "But you'd better go inside the mall by yourself, Jack, and I'll wait in your truck. I don't want to go in there looking like this."

"I don't know, Daniel. I don't think it'd be safe for you to be in the truck alone. There's a lot of horrible news stories on TV about missing kids and stuff, and besides, I think I'll need you, to get the right size clothes."

"But Jack, I'm not a child. I'll be safe."

"Maybe you're not a child, but strangers won't be able to see that. Sorry, Daniel, but you're going into the mall with me. I promise I'll carry you, so you won't trip on the scrub top again."

"But Jack! Please!"

"Sorry, no buts, Daniel!"

"I'm afraid that I'm going to hear that a lot, aren't I? Well, at least as long as I'm shrunk."

"Probably. I'm just thinking about what's best for you."

"I know, but this sucks big time. I wish I could just wake up from this nightmare," Daniel whined.

"Yeah, it does. I wish that too, Danny, I wish that too."

When they got to the mall, Jack hurried inside with Daniel in his arms. After Jack had bought some clothes for Daniel and got him dressed, he went to another store to buy a booster seat.

Jack was surprised that Daniel didn't try to argue about the booster seat when he bought it and placed him in it.

While he strapped Daniel into his booster seat, Jack asked, "Danny, I thought you'd have a temper tantrum by now, because of the booster seat."

Daniel bit on his lower lip and then whispered, "Because not long ago, when I was still big… I-I yelled at a mother for not placing her child in a booster seat. Well, I'm not a kid, but if the cops pulled you over, they wouldn't know that I'm not and then you and I would be in a lot of trouble, right?"

Jack smiled. "Ya think! Well, let's get to the SGC and see if we can find a way to save Teal'c," Jack said, tousling Daniel's hair.


	3. Chapter 3

Legacy Rewind Chapter 3"Down Memory Lane" take 2

Jack and Daniel were in the truck outside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

"So, Daniel. Are you ready to go inside?" Jack asked, while he was looking in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, now that I'm in more decent clothes, but I wish I could wear my BDUs. I can't wait to see Teal'c. I hope we can find out how to save him."

"Yeah, I hope so too. Let's get inside and find out what was inside you. Carter and General Hammond will have a fit when they see you."

~oOo~

Jack and Daniel walked inside the infirmary and were greeted by Dr. Fraiser, General Hammond and Carter.

"Colonel, what is the kid doing here? Sorry, kid, I don't mean to scare you, but the Colonel hasn't got any authorization to take you inside this complex." General Hammond said.

Daniel was about to answer, but Jack beat him to it.

"Sir, this kid isn't really a normal kid. It's Daniel. I found him this size in the padded room."

General Hammond, Dr. Fraiser and Carter looked at Jack, stunned.

"Colonel. Are you sure you're feeling alright?" General Hammond asked.

"General. Jack isn't crazy. It's really me. I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson. Please, you've got to believe us."

General Hammond went to Daniel and bent down to be face to face with the kid.

"My God. It is really you, isn't it?"

"Yes, General. It's me, Daniel."

"How are you feeling, son?"

"Much better than I did few hours ago, besides my now small size. At least I'm not seeing things that aren't there anymore and I'm not behaving erratically. I'm glad that Jack got me out of there. The cell was very big and scary," Daniel said, and a few tears fell down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, General. Since I've been shrunk, I have a hard time keeping my emotions in check."

Hammond's grandfatherly instinct took over and he took the boy in his arms, wiping Daniel's tears away with his thumb.

"It's alright, you don't have to apologize, son." Daniel couldn't control himself any longer and he started to cry again. Hammond rocked him back and forth and talked to him in a soothing voice.

After Daniel had stopped crying, Carter went to him. "Daniel, I'm so happy that you're feeling better. I was so worried about you. I promise you, Daniel. I'll do my best to find out how to make you big again."

Daniel squirmed until the General set him on the floor then walked over and wrapped his arms around Carter's legs. "Thank you, Sam. That means a lot to me."

"I'll do anything for my best friend."

Daniel lifted his head up so that he could see Carter's face and smiled brightly and she smiled back.

"Well, Daniel. I better examine you. I'll get a nurse to find some small scrubs for you."

"No! No scrubs, please, Janet. I just got out of a giant scrub and I've had it with scrubs for a long, long time!"

"Sorry, Daniel, but you have to get one on just for the exam."

"No. You can't make me!"

Jack hurried to Daniel's side when he noticed that the boy was about to have his first temper tantrum since his downsizing.

"Calm down, Daniel," Jack said firmly, "it's only while the Doc looks you over, and besides, you don't have to wear a giant scrub. As I remember, we do have children size scrubs here. Isn't that right, Doc?"

"We sure do."

Jack could see that Daniel didn't look happy at all. He wrapped his arms around his chest in protest and it so looked like Daniel was about to stamp his foot in a tantrum.

"Daniel! Stop that right now. I warn you, if you're going to have a full blown temper tantrum, you'll get a timeout in a corner, and if that isn't enough, you'll be sorry, or at least your butt will! Do I make myself clear, young man?"

"Jack. Don't talk to me like I'm a spoiled little kid. I'm not a kid and you're not my Dad! And you don't have the right to "discipline" me!" Daniel shouted, hitting Jack on his leg as hard as he could with his four year old hand.

"Doc. Can we use your office? Daniel and I need to have a chat one on one."

"Go right ahead, Colonel, but remember, Daniel just recently got shrunk. He need to adjust and learn how to handle his child emotions."

"Don't worry, Doc. I'm well aware of that and I promise you, I'll do my best to help Daniel, to keep him grounded. So if I need discipline to do it, then I will."

Jack took Daniel's right hand in his, Daniel tried to pull his hand away, but Jack grabbed it firmly and led him to Dr. Fraiser's office.

~oOo~

"Daniel," Jack said firmly after he closed the door to the office. "You got three choices: stopping the tantrum or timeout in a corner or a spanking if the timeout doesn't help. So what's it going to be?"

"Tantrum? I don't do tantrums, Jack. That would be so childish. I'm just stating my point, that's all."

"Danny boy, Danny boy. I know a temper tantrum when I see one. You're about to have one, but now you know the consequences of your actions. So what are you going to choose? Shall I start warming up my hand?"

"You're not serious, are you, Jack?" Daniel asked worriedly.

"You bet I'm serious. So the choice is up to you."

"I'm sorry, Jack. I don't agree with you that I was about to have a temper tantrum, but I promise I'll stop arguing for now."

"Good, but remember, my promise of discipline does still count to your future actions and if you ever hit me again, I promise you, you won't get any choices, your butt will be sorry!" Jack said firmly with a pointed finger at Daniel.

"I'm not afraid of you, Jack."

"What can a man do to get some respect around here?"

"Buy me a cup of coffee and I'll show you some respect, Jack."

"Watch it!" Jack said teasingly with a smile.

"So are we cool, Jack? You're not going to spank me, are you?" Daniel asked worriedly.

"No, not as long as you're behaving and not hitting anyone without any reason again. Well, you better get to the Doc. We need to find out what happened to you, so that we can help Teal'c."

Jack noticed Daniel ducking his head down and there were few tears that started to run down the boy's cheeks again. Jack pulled Daniel into his arms.

"Hey, hey, kid. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry…"

"For what?" Jack asked worriedly.

"For arguing about a stupid scrub, while I was forgetting that Teal'c is dying and that we need to find a way to save him before it's too late," Daniel said and started to sob on Jack's shoulder.

"It's okay, Daniel. We understand and I'm sure Teal'c will too. You're not yourself at the moment and you'll have to learn to control your new emotions."

Jack sat on Dr. Fraiser's chair while he comforted the sad little boy. Yes, a little boy. With or without adult memories. Jack now knew that Daniel was a four year old child through and through. Except he's talking like an adult.

After Daniel had calmed down and stopped crying, Jack asked him, "Danny, are you ready for the doc now?"

Daniel nodded and Jack placed Daniel back on his feet and held his hand out for Daniel to grab and he did it without any complaint and they walked out of Dr. Fraiser's office.

~oOo~

Jack noticed that Dr. Fraiser, General Hammond and Carter all looked worriedly at him and Daniel, when they walked out of Dr. Fraiser's office.

"Hey, you don't have to worry. As you can see, I left Daniel in one piece."

"Daniel, are you okay? I hope that the Colonel wasn't too hard on you," Carter said. worriedly.

"Hey Carter, what do you mean by that? I'm good with kids!" Jack said, sounding offended.

Carter ignored him and kept her focus on Daniel.

"Don't worry, Sam. I'm okay and no, he wasn't too hard on me."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but I need you to change into some scrubs now," Dr. Fraiser said.

"Okay, Doctor Janet… I'm sorry… about how I acted a few minutes ago," Daniel said.

"That's okay. Let's get started. I'll get a nurse to help you change."

"Doctor Janet. Do you mind if Jack was the one to help me with it? Please."

"Sure. If the Colonel doesn't mind."

Daniel looked pleadingly at Jack. "Jack, do you want to help me, please." Daniel said with puppy dog eyes at him.

"Sureyoubetcha, kid. I'll help you."

While Dr. Fraiser, Jack and Daniel went to the examination area, Carter went back to Teal'c's bedside and General Hammond to his office.

After Jack had helped Daniel to get scrubs on, a nurse was checking his blood pressure, while he was sitting on the examining table.

In the meantime, Jack was talking to Dr. Fraiser out of hearing range of a shrunken archaeologist.

"Colonel, it looks like Daniel is physically and emotionally a four year old."

"Ya think! In all the time you have known him, has he ever called you Doctor Janet, had a temper tantrum and had a hard time to keep his emotions in check?"

"No, today is the first time he ever called me that. Colonel… while you and Daniel were in my office… did you give him a… you know, a spanking?"

"What do you think, Doc?"

"Well, I noticed that he had been crying again. So yes, I think you did."

"Do you see Daniel sitting without any problems?"

"Yes, I do. Colonel?"

"Well, if I have given him one, than he for sure wouldn't be able to sit comfortably at the moment. So no, I didn't."

"Good. Now I know what signs I need to look out for. Well, I better go back to my patient. Colonel… one thing I need to test is… if Daniel's still got anti psychotics in system… and if he does…"

"What? You mean that he still got that stuff in his system? I thought that it had disappeared as soon as he got shrunk. Can it be dangerous for him, because of the size he is now?" Jack asked worriedly.

"Yes, Colonel. There is a big chance that he still got it in his system and because of his size, it could get very dangerous for him, but let's see what the test says first."

"I hope you're wrong, Doc."

"Me too, Colonel, me too. I also hope the blood test can show us how he got shrunk and a way to find an antidote to un-shrink him."

"Yeah, if we're only that lucky. It's rarely that easy at the SGC or for Daniel, for that matter. I'll have a talk with the General about contacting our allies and ask them for help. Hopefully they have experienced something like that before and know how to make Daniel an adult again. So that he won't have to be trapped in a child's body for long.


	4. Chapter 4

Legacy Rewind Chapter 4

"**Down Memory Lane" take three.**

Dr. Fraiser had finally finished examining Daniel. She wanted him to take a nap, but he wouldn't hear of it. He wanted to see Teal'c, Jack couldn't blame him, and besides, they needed Daniel to get to the bottom of this to save Teal'c. So Jack promised Dr. Fraiser that he'll get Daniel to take a nap after they had gotten all the information they needed from Daniel.

Daniel was standing at Teal'c's bedside, tears again falling down his cheeks. Jack went to get a chair and placed himself in it and put Daniel on his lap.

When Dr. Fraiser got the test result back, she went to Teal'c's infirmary room. "Daniel, your dopamine levels are back to normal, well, as normal as they can be for a four year old," Dr. Fraiser said.

"Doc, what about the drugs you were worried about, that were given to Daniel, before he got shrunk?" Jack asked worriedly.

"No trace of them, sir."

"Thank God…."

"But sadly the blood test didn't say anything about how Daniel got shrunk," Dr. Fraiser said sadly.

"I'm… back to normal, Doctor Janet… What, Jack?" Daniel looked questioningly up at Jack when he frowned.

"Well, Danny. You're not quite back to normal yet."

"What do you mean by that, Jack? I'm not delusional anymore."

"You're sitting on my lap, aren't you?"

"Yes…" Daniel said and looked down at his body. "Oh yeah. I'm still shrunk. That's what you meant. No, you're right. I'm not quite back to normal."

Carter interrupted them and said, "Okay, let's say your concept about Machello's Goa'uld killing invention is right, why did it take so long to go into Teal'c?"

Daniel still sat on Jack's lap and he put a finger on his lips and thought for a few minutes, then said, "I don't know. Maybe it needed a close proximity to sense his Goa'uld larva…"

Carter looked a little sceptically at Daniel.

"Look, I had a lot of time locked in that giant room to think about this. It make sense. Why am I back to normal… I mean mentally… Jack stop, looking at me like that… And, coincidentally, hours after touching me, Teal'c is sick."

"Alright, why didn't I get sick or shrunk when we were playing cards few nights ago, and you were jumping all over me? And if this thing is a Goa'uld killer, why did it get you shrunk, instead of killing you?" Jack asked.

"Because last I heard you and I don't have a Goa'uld larva. Maybe the side effect to humans that don't have a Goa'uld larva is psychotic episodes and de-aging."

"Alright, but Daniel, look, we ran every test we have, MRI, CAT scan, x-ray, full blood workup. There is nothing foreign in Teal'c or his symbiote."

"It's there. I know it! I saw it!"

"Daniel, those bodies had only been there a month. Machello's been dead for six months. How could he be responsible?" Carter asked.

"What if he planted those killing devices there six months ago? Or a year ago? And the Linvris walked into their meeting and…" Daniel said.

"Like… a land mine." Jack mused aloud.

"Yes, Jack. Like a land mine. World War One mines are still going off in France today even though the soldiers that planted them are long since dead," Daniel said. He climbed off of Jack's lap and went to the computer, followed by Carter.

"Daniel, you think that Machello made this thing, right?"

"Right."

"We crated off everything in Machello's lab to Area 51 and it's all in our database. Let's see if we can find something that looks familiar," Carter said as she called up images of Machello's creations on the computer. Jack and Janet walked over to join them.

Jack spotted something on the computer and said, "Right there! Right there, back it up."

Carter did as asked. It was a picture of a tablet and a page turning device.

"I picked that up in the Linvris chamber," Daniel said.

As Carter turned to another page with a dozen page turning devices, Dr. Fraiser asked, "Why did he make so many page turning devices?"

"Could be our land mine," Carter answered.

~oOo~

In a lab, Carter and Dr. Fraiser were examining the tablet and the page turning device, which was sealed in a glass quarantine chamber. In the meantime, Jack sat on a chair, watching them. Daniel also wanted to come with them to the lab, but Jack would have none of it, and when it looked as though Daniel was about to insist, Jack reminded him of the three choices he had and he reluctantly stayed in the viewing room above, so that he at least could observe them from there. Daniel kneeled on a chair at the observation window. In front of him was a microphone so that he could communicate with them.

"On the right is the PTD from the Linvris and the one on the left is from Area 51," Dr. Fraiser said.

"They look like the one we found on Argos. The Linvris probably thought it was one of their own," Carter said.

"It's a good way to hide a mine," Colonel O'Neill said.

"Yeah. The question is, how do we set it off?" Carter asked. She then tapped on the page turning device to see if something happened, but it didn't.

"No. Okay, let's see what happens, when we use it on the tablet," Dr. Fraiser said.

Carter used the page turning devices over the tablet and 10 odd looking organism suddenly slithered from the device.

"There they are. I am counting five… ten altogether. So if all PTDs are the same, we're looking at about ten per device," Dr. Fraiser said.

"That explains how I got infected. There were nine Linvris," Daniel said over the microphone.

Carter looked up at the observation window and said, "And when you activated the device, the last one went into you."

"Okay, let's try and immobilize one and put it under the 'scope."

The glass chamber and the gloves weren't enough protection because two of the odd looking organism penetrated Carter's gloves and the others escaped from the glass chamber.

"The gloves are breached!" Dr. Fraiser shouted and a warning siren started up.

"Whoa!" came from Carter. She and Dr. Fraiser backed away and they were rubbing their arms. Too late! The organism were inside them.

Some of the organisms jumped toward Jack. Jack reared back. "Whoa!"

"General Hammond to B-Hazmat Observation right away!" came a worried, boyish voice over the intercom system.

Dr. Fraiser watched, horrified, when she saw one of the organisms move beneath her skin on her arm.

"Aagh! Great!" came from Jack and, "no!" from Fraiser.

General Hammond arrived at the observation deck and Daniel filled him in on what had happened.

Dr. Fraiser told General Hammond that as long as they remained inside the lab, the base would probably be secure.

After the General had called Dr. Warner, Jack asked the General, "Sir, do you mind, get Daniel out of there and get him to take a nap…"

"No, Jack, please. I don't need a nap. I want to stay here!"

"Daniel!" Jack said firmly. "Please, Daniel, do as you're told, I'm not in the mood to argue with you," Jack said in a less firmly voice. _I don't want you to see me go nuts and get flashbacks from your time in the padded room, _Jack thought to himself.

"But…"

"No, Daniel, no buts…Sorry, General, for the interruption. Let Daniel take a nap in the infirmary and let a nurse keep an eye on him, to make sure he doesn't leave."

"Consider it done, Colonel."

"Thank, you, sir."

"Come on, Daniel. You heard what Jack said."

"General, please, I need to be here for them. Those organisms left my body. I might be immune. I may be the only one who can help them."

"We don't know that, Doc… Daniel. I can't let you risk it…" the General said to Daniel and then told Carter, "Major Carter. Dr. Warner will stay here. We'll get whoever else you think can help, but you're going to have to figure it out in there."

"I understand, sir," Carter said.

General Hammond lifted a stunned Daniel from the chair he was kneeling on and placed him on his feet on the floor.

"General, please. Let me stay here."

"Sorry, but the Colonel said it's your nap time and when I look at you, I agree with him."

Jack could hear everything that went on in the observation deck, somehow the microphone was still on. He could hear Daniel was starting to protest again. He wondered how the General was going to handle that.

~oOo~

After Carter had made an antidote to Machello's Goa'uld killer organism and all of them were dead, they were allowed to leave the lab and get directly to the infirmary for a physical.

The General waited there for them.

"Sir. How is Daniel?" Jack asked worriedly.

"He's fine, Colonel. He went out as a light as soon as his head touched the pillow and he's still sleeping."

"Good to hear that, sir. At the lab, when you were going to take him for his a nap, it sounded like he wasn't too happy. How did you handle that, sir?"

"I just asked him how you handle them and he told me that you're giving him three choices. I told him that I would then do the same. He asked me if I was really going to force him into a timeout or even spank him if he didn't stop his "making a point."

Jack couldn't help laughing. "So he also told you, that he doesn't do temper tantrums, because that would be too childish of him. That he only is making a point."

"Yes, Colonel. That he did."

"That's our little linguist for ya. So how did you answer him?"

"That I would, if he chose not to stop his "making a point." General Hammond said and smiled.

"I can imagine that he wasn't happy about that."

"He sure wasn't, Colonel."

"I want to go check on him."

"Not now, Colonel. Doctor Warner needs to check you out first and then you can go see him."

"Okay sir… General, as long as Daniel is a child… I want to be the one to take care of him, and if we… don't find a way… I want to adopt him, sir."

"I'll make all the arrangements, Colonel and as long as no one else wants to get custody of him and you aren't de-aging to a child too, I can't see any problem."

"Well, I'll gladly share custody if Carter, Fraiser and Teal'c want to get joint custody."

"I hope that you'll allow me to become Daniel's substitute Grandfather."

"Yes, sir, of course, sir."

"Good, Colonel. Report to Dr. Warner immediately, so that you can visit your charge ASAP."

Jack saluted and said, "Sir, yes sir!" And smiled brightly.

~oOo~

When Jack arrived to see Daniel, he was still sleeping. Jack didn't want to wake him, so he just sat there and watch him sleep. Just as Jack was about to fall asleep as well, Dr. Fraiser came and told him that she was ready to give Teal'c the antidote.

"I'd better wake Daniel up. I'm sure that he'll have a major temper tantrum and choose not to stop and I'll be forced to fulfil my promise to him, if I don't give him the chance to be there when we are saving Teal'c's life."

"You'd better do that, Colonel. I don't think I'll be enjoying to see Daniel struggling to sit down without any pain. I'll wait to give Teal'c the antidote till you and Daniel get there, but please don't take too long."

"Thanks, Doc. I promise we'll get there ASAP."

When Dr. Fraiser left, Jack gently brushed with the back of his left hand over Daniel's right cheek.

"Hey, Danny. Time to wake up. Carter made an antidote and Dr. Fraiser is going to give it to Teal'c."

As soon as Jack said the name Teal'c, Daniel woke up with a startled frown.

"Wh't. T?" Daniel said, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Wher' 'm I?" he said and looked around.

"You're in the infirmary, Daniel. You just had a nap."

"Jack!" Daniel jumped from the bed into Jack's arms.

"Hey, hey. Easy, kid. I know we're in the infirmary, but still I don't want you having any accidents."

"Jack. How are you… and how is Sam and Doctor Janet! Last time I saw you, you all were infected with Machello's Gould killer invention. How did you get out of that? Did you all go crazy like I did? Did you? Did you, Jack?"

"Hey, hey, slow down, kid. Carter wasn't affected, the organism died in her because they thought that the Gould larva had died."

"Because of Jolinar! Right, Jack?"

"Yes, Daniel. Because of Jolinar. Carter found a way, with Dr. Fraiser's help, to make an antidote out of the protein marker from her blood."

"Cool! So you're all okay? Right, Jack?" Daniel asked worriedly.

"Yes, Daniel. We are all okay, but now we need to make sure that Teal'c will be all right too. So let's go. I promised that we'd be there ASAP."

Daniel pulled himself from Jack's embrace, "Then let's go, Jack," he said while he grabbed Jack's left hand. Jack noticed that Daniel stood funny, like he needed to pee, but hadn't the time to take care of business.

"Daniel. First you have to visit the bathroom and then we'll go to Teal'c."

"I don't need to go. The only place I need to go is to Teal'c."

Jack grabbed Daniel's shoulders and pushed him gently toward the bathroom.

"Bathroom, now!" Jack said firmly and when he noticed that Daniel was about to complain, he said, "No buts, Daniel. Bathroom now!"

"Oh man. I just knew I was going to hear that a lot," Daniel said while he walked in the bathroom. He was about to close the door, when Jack walked in there too.

"Oh, no, Jack. I don't need your help in here!"

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, Daniel, but I'm afraid that you won't be able to reach the toilet or the sink."

Daniel walked to the toilet and he turned his face down to the floor when he noticed that Jack was right.

"I'll help you, Daniel. I'm sorry I didn't think to buy you a step stool when we were at the mall, but I promise you that I'll buy one ASAP."

"Okay," Daniel said reluctantly. His face turned red from embarrassment when Jack helped him.

~oOo~

After Dr. Fraiser had given Teal'c the antidote and Teal'c said the name Ma'chello, Daniel went to Teal'c with a smile as big as Mount Everest.

"Teal'c. I'm so glad that you're going to be okay!"

Teal'c turned his head and looked at the little boy who was talking to him. "Sorry, child. Do I know you?"

"Yes, you do, Teal'c. It's me, Daniel! Dr. Daniel Jackson!"

Teal'c looked confused at the kid then at Jack who stood right beside Daniel, with a protective hand on the boy's right shoulder.

"O'Neill. Is the child telling the truth?"

"Believe me, T. This boy here is definitely Daniel Jackson. Memories intact, but gets temper tantrums like any normal four year old."

"Jack! That's not true! I'm only making my point!" Daniel looked up at Jack, with a hurt expression on his face.

"Oh, it's so true. T, you'll soon find out that I'm right."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, and a few seconds later, closed his eyes and went to sleep.

They all left Teal'c to his rest.

Outside Teal'c's room, Daniel asked, "What now, Jack. Are we going home to your place? You always take me home to your place after I've been in the infirmary, to recuperate."

"Not today, Daniel. Dr. Fraiser and I aren't allowed to leave the SGC for a week. So you and I are going to share a VIP room."

"Why aren't you allowed to leave? I thought you were all well after you got the antidote," Daniel said worriedly.

"Let's talk about this in the VIP room."

When they arrived in their VIP room, Jack sat down on the bed and asked Daniel to sit beside him.

"Daniel… Dr. Fraiser and I will be under observation for any signs of de-aging."

"What? Y-you mean that you're going to get shrunk too? If you do who is going to take care of me? I-I'm afraid that General Hammond won't allow me to take care of myself. I don't want to end up in foster care again." Daniel started to cry.

Jack got Daniel on his lap once again and did his best to comfort his sad little friend.

"Daniel. It isn't certain that we're going to get shrunk too. You had the organism in your body a few days, you were pumped full of drugs and you didn't get the antidote as we did, and we only had those organism in us for under an hour."

"But you got more than one in you. Maybe you will get shrunk down to a baby!" Daniel said between hiccups.

"If I do you can be my big brother and you'll change my diapers!"

"Yuk! Jack."

"Yuk? Hey! That the thanks I get for helping you. What a little ungrateful little brat…" Jack said teasingly while he lay Daniel on the bed and started to tickle him.

"Stop… Jack… please!" Daniel said between laughs, while he tried to get away from Jack's tickling hands.

"Not until you say that you're sorry and that you promise to change my diapers. If I get shrunk to a baby."

"Jack. I'm… only… four!… How… can… I… change… your… diaper!" Daniel said between tickling.

"So now you're four, eh? Well, I'd better remember that and help you remember, when you won't do as I tell you to. Well, I'm waiting, Daniel."

"Sorry, Jack. I'm sorry…"

"And?"

"And… I… promise… to… change… your… diaper… if you get shrunk."

"Good boy, Danny. I think it's time for you to get something to eat. Let's get to the commissary."

"I'm not hungry, Jack. I want to get to my office. Since I was committed to mental health, I'm afraid that my pile of translations, that needs to be done, has grown a lot!" Daniel got out of bed and ran to the door. "I'm going to my office now. See you later, Jack."

"Not so fast, Daniel!" Jack said while he hurried to catch up with him.

"The only place you're going today is the commissary and then back to the VIP room for a bath and then it's bedtime for you, young man."

"Jack, you can't be serious! It's not that long ago I had a forced nap and you're expecting me to go to bed that early. I'm not really four, you know. I'm an adult in a child's body."

"Well, Daniel, as I recall, you said only a few minutes ago that you're only four and four year old boys do go to bed that early."

"But, but "

"No buts, Daniel. Commissary, bath and bed in that order. You've been through a lot in the last few days and you need some rest. End of discussion," Jack said firmly.

"Oh, man!" Daniel whined when they walked to the commissary.


	5. Chapter 5

Legacy Rewind Chapter 5"Danny, I need to tell you something"

**Few hours ago.**

Jack knocked on the door to General Hammond's office and the General invited him in.

"General, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, take a seat Colonel."

Jack noticed the worried look on the General's face.

"Sir, is something wrong?" Jack asked after he sat down.

"I'm sorry to tell you Colonel, but someone else wants custody of Daniel and he's going to sue for it."

"What! Who?"

"Dr. McKenzie and his wife."

"That son of a Bitch."

"Colonel!"

"Sorry, sir. He can't be serious. He knows that Daniel got horrible nightmares after his commitment to mental health and waking up there in a padded room as a kid. He must know that it would only get worse when he is forced to live with him 24/7. He must know by now that Daniel avoids him like the plague."

"Colonel, I tried my best to change his mind. I told him that I think that Daniel would be in the best hands if he stayed with you and that you're handling his needs very well. He's claiming that he thinks that he and his wife would be the best for Daniel, then to live with a bachelor, who maybe also get shrunk to a child. He wants Daniel to face that he is a child and that he needs to live and behave as one."

"Thank you, sir… Few days has past, I have only lost about 20 years and Dr. Warner think my de-aging has stopped, so luckily I'm still an adult and it looks like I'm going to stay that way. Now that I'm young again, I have enough energy to raise a four year old with adult memories. When Daniel needs to spend some time with mother figures, I'm sure that Carter and Dr. Fraiser wants to spend some time with him. They adored the adult Daniel, they adore him even more as a four year old. Well I better find me a great lawyer and I think I already have one in mind."

"Good idea. Colonel. You better get in contact with him as soon as possible, because Dr. McKenzie said that he wants to get Daniel settled at his home as soon as possible. I also told him that it was big possibility that you wouldn't de-age to a child too, but he still claimed that you wouldn't be the best parent for Daniel, because you let him behave as an adult, instead of forcing him to go to school and play with toys and with other children, now that he has a chance to change his childhood for the better."

"That's because he's not a normal child. He still needs to adjust to his new size and emotions. He has only been this way for a short period of time. He should be allowed to have time to cope with it, without forcing him to behave completely as a child. I hope that he'll sooner or later allow himself to be a kid and enjoy it, if we can't find a way to un-shrink him. I only treat him as a kid when he acts like one."

"I agree with you Colonel. I'll support you as best as I can."

"I hope we hear from our allies soon and that they know how to turn Daniel back to normal. It would be great if they could do that before the hearing. So that Daniel doesn't have to go through that. Sam is working her butt of… Sorry sir. I mean she's working so hard to find out how Daniel got shrunk and how to reverse it. She for sure could use some help from the Asgard, Tok'ra and/or the Nox."

"I hope so too Colonel. I'll let you know as soon as we hears from them. Well I got a meeting in a few minutes. Dismissed."

"Thank you, General. I'll better go see to it that Daniel get something to eat, before his nap time. I'm not looking forward to tell Daniel about Dr. McKenzie's plans."

"I'm glad I'm not in your shoes Colonel. I'm afraid that Daniel will become a very sad little boy when he get the news."

"I'm afraid so, too, sir."

~oOo~

Jack stormed in Dr. McKenzie's office at the SGC.

"What the hell are you planning, Dr. McKenzie! You can't be serious about getting custody of Daniel!"

"Colonel. You can't just barge in, there could have been a patient in here!"

"I don't care, Doctor! The only thing I care about at this moment is Daniel's welfare and…"

"I'm interested in his welfare too, Colonel and that's why I'm going to file for custody of him. When I become his guardian my wife and I will get him a good upbringing and make sure that he'll be allowed to be a child."

"What about the adult side of him are you going to let him out and act like his adult age. If you do, what about your wife is she going to know that Daniel isn't a normal four year old?"

"No, my wife won't get to know, that Daniel was once an adult. About Daniel's adult side, no, I'll make sure that Daniel's adult side won't come to surface."

"And how will you make sure of that, Dr. McKenzie?"

"When I get custody, you'll find out soon enough."

"Well, don't count on you getting your filthy hands on my kid!"

"He's not your kid, Colonel."

"Who has made sure that Daniel eats and rest regularly, since he joined SG-1 and now as a child, make sure he takes naps, when he needs it and keeping him grounded when he's getting a full blown temper tantrum and comforting him when he gets nightmares at night, because of his previous stay in your care at mental health?"

"Well Colonel. It's not like you're giving me a chance to be there for him in that way. Well that is going to change, when I get custody of him. Colonel, I have an appointment with my lawyer, so please leave my office."

"I leave, but don't count on, that you've seen the last of me." Jack walked out of the office and slammed the door on his way out.

Jack made sure that Dr. McKenzie couldn't come near Daniel and he got some SF's to hold guard everywhere Daniel was. He didn't want Dr. McKenzie be the one to tell Daniel that he wanted custody of him. Jack knew, that he soon had to tell him, but he wanted to wait till the right time, which he thought would be never.

Present time

Jack tried to work at his desk, but he couldn't stop remembering what had happened since Daniel was committed to mental health and every once in a while he looked over at the sleeping child on the portable cot. He was happy that Daniel was able to sleep for a while without any signs of a nightmare.

Jack wrote an email to JAG officer Harmon Rabb, who was now his lawyer for the upcoming custody battle. To let him know where they should meet and at which time. It didn't take long before Rabb answered him and they agreed to meet at the SGC. On a floor were visitors, who didn't have the right clearance yet, was allowed to be.

Jack was only able to get a few paper work done, because he couldn't stop worrying about Daniel's future and his reaction after telling him about Dr. McKenzie's plans. So he decided to prepare for the upcoming custody battle instead of working on his mission reports.

After Jack had worked a while, he could hear that Daniel was starting to get restless and was whimpering in his sleep. Jack hurried to Daniel's side. It didn't take long before Daniel started to scream.

"No. Please. No, needles! I'm not crazy, I'm not! Please, believe me," Daniel screamed between sobs.

"Shh, shh. Daniel you're just having a nightmare. You're safe now. We know that you're not crazy." Jack said while he got the boy on his lap.

After sometime Daniel calmed down and slept peaceful in Jack's arms. Jack tried to get Daniel back on the cot, but the kid had a tight grip on him and he didn't want to let go of Jack. So Jack laid down on the cot with the boy still in his arms and soon he fell asleep too.

Jack didn't sleep peacefully. He dreamt that Dr. McKenzie got custody of Daniel and that he had lost his kid and best friend forever. In his dream Daniel ran away soon after he came to live with the McKenzie's and few days after they found him dead. Jack was very happy, when he finally woke up from his nightmare. He so hoped that his nightmare didn't come true.

After he woke up, he just lay there on the cot and looked down at the kid, who was beginning to wake up too.

"Hey, sleepy head."

"Jack. What time is it? I have a ton of work to do… What am I doing in your arms? Where am I… Oh now I remember. I'm shrunk and you ordered me to take a nap," Daniel said while he got out of Jack's embrace.

"Yes, you're still shrunk. You're in my arms, because you had a nightmare. I placed you on my lap till you calmed down. I tried to get you back on the cot, but you didn't want to let go of me, so I kept you in my arms and I fell asleep too."

"Oh… I'm sorry Jack."

"For what?"

"For being a baby, when I'm having a nightmare."

"You're not acting as a baby, Daniel. You got emotions of a four year old. Even a full grown adult, would've react like that when they have an horrible nightmare like you had. You don't have to apologize for it."

"Well, Jack. I don't think that they would crave for a cuddle with their best friend, after a nightmare."

"Maybe not everyone, but some does. Come here, Daniel," Jack said while he still sat on the cot and pointed to Daniel to sit beside him.

When Daniel took a seat beside Jack, Jack said, "Daniel. You don't have to be ashamed of wanting a cuddle. I'm always here for you, whenever you need one."

"Thanks, Jack. I'm glad that I have you as my best friend. I just wish that the four year old in me, didn't get more and more power over me. I can feel that I crave more and more for cuddles and I'm even sometimes craving to play with toys, ew. I hate that craving."

Jack was surprised of Daniel's confession. He had noticed that Daniel was acting more and more his current age, but he never thought that he already sometimes craved to play with toys. He thought that it was good that Daniel was beginning to open up for what troubled him.

"Let me know when you want to go to a toy store and I'll bring you there, when I'm allowed to leave the SGC again. Don't be embarrassed to tell me."

"That's never going to happen, Jack. That four year old kiddie craving, has to stay buried."

"I won't force you to play with toys, but please don't be to hard on yourself. I think it's good for all of us if we sometimes let over inner child loose and let it come out to play."

"I'll try not to, but I can't promise you anything."

"Well, it's the only thing I'm asking of you, to try your best. So what do you say to getting topside with Teal'c and Carter and play some hoops?" Jack said while he wrapped his arms around Daniel and gave him a hug.

"It would be nice, Jack, but I want to go to my office and work on my pile of translation. Since you're forcing me to take naps and many breaks my pile of work is growing bigger and bigger."

"Well about that. General Hammond told me that he is going to get you some help and get more staff for you. So you only have to work on things, where you are the only one that know that language."

"No. He doesn't have to do that. If you just let me do my job and don't bug me about forcing naps and breaks on me I'll be fine!"

"No way, Daniel. We are not going to allow you to work 24/7, your child body won't be able to handle that kind of stress. You have to listen to your four year old body's needs. If you don't I'll make sure you do."

"I'm not planning on working 24/7, but work, about eight hours a day, with short breaks and no naps."

"Eight hours is like a whole day for a four year old body, Daniel. I think that three to four hours, with one to two hours nap, would be best for your current age."

"Only three to four hours? You can't be serious Jack. What do you suppose I should do the rest of the day?"

"Have fun. Watch TV like the Simpsons and even History and Discovery channel that you love so much. Get a lot of fresh air and sunshine and exercise."

"I'm not the one who love to watch the Simpsons it's you, remember?"

"Oh. I thought that now that you are a four year old, you would love to watch the show."

"Only in your dreams, Jack and besides if I was a normal kid without adult memories, I don't think that the show is a proper show for a pre-schooler."

"Maybe you're right. You can work on your translation for an hour and I'll then pick you up. Then You, Teal'c, Sam and I can go outside and have some team fun."

"Okay." Daniel said while he hopped of the cot.

"I'll follow you to your office."

"You don't have to Jack. I know how to find my office on my own."

"I know, Daniel. I just want too."

"Okay then, let's go, before my hour is up."

~oOo~

Jack walked back to Daniel's office and knocked on his door, but there was no answer. After he had knocked a few times and still didn't get any answer, he was worried. So he decided to go in even that he hadn't got any invitation from Daniel to come in. Well it's not like he never went inside Daniel's office when he was still an adult, without his invitation. Daniel had a habit to be so caught up in work and didn't hear what was happening around him. Jack hoped that it was why he didn't hear from Daniel this time too.

Jack walked inside and he saw that he was right Daniel was buried deep in his work.

"Times up, Daniel. It's time for some SG-1 team fun outside."

Daniel didn't answer him.

"Earth to Daniel. Time for a break." There was still no reaction from Daniel.

Jack walked to Daniel and lay his right arm on Daniel's tiny left shoulder.

"Spacemonkey. It's time for a break."

Daniel fell almost out of booster seat, by surprise that he wasn't alone, luckily Jack had some great reflexes and catch him.

"Jack! You almost gave me a heart attack. Warn a guy first will ya! And have you ever heard about, knocking on the door before walking in?"

"I did knock Daniel, but you obviously didn't hear me."

"Oh… What do you want Jack?"

"I came to pick you up. It's time for some fun."

"Already? Are you sure that an hour has past already?"

"Yep. I sure am. Come on Daniel. Teal'c is on his way outside. I tried to contact Carter, but she didn't answer. So we need to go by her office and pick her up."

"Can I go back to work after our break! Please Jack"

"No sorry, Daniel. You can read or watch TV in our VIP room afterwards."

"But "

"No buts, Daniel. Let's go." Jack offered his hand and Daniel took it without any complaints.

~oOo~

At Carter's office Jack had the same problem as he had when he came to Daniel's. Carter was caught up deep in her work too.

"Earth to Carter! Anyone home?"

"Oh, sorry sir. I didn't hear you. Want do you want sir."

"Daniel and I are here to pick you up, so that we can have some fun outside. Remember you promised me to join us."

"Yeah… About that, sir. I'm afraid I'll have to pass. I still haven't any clue to how Daniel got shrunk with Machello's invention and how to undo it…" Carter said in a frustrated voice.

"It's okay, Sam. I don't ask you to find me a cure pronto and working on it without any rest. I won't blame you if you can't find a way to help me. I know you tried your best."

Carter's eyes began to watering. She walked to Daniel and kneeled and gave him a hug.

"I won't stop trying, Daniel. Maybe when my Dad or the Asgard comes, they can help me and we'll find a way to undo it."

"Thanks, Sam…" Daniel said and returned the hug, "…please, Sam come with us. I want to have some fun with my family. I'm glad that you haven't stopped me from still being a part of SG-1, even that I'm not allowed to go off-world for the moment."

"We will never banish you from SG-1 Daniel and we'll always be your family no matter what happens. And besides the Colonel and I aren't allowed to go off-world for the moment either."

"So you're coming outside with us? Please, Sam."

"Sure I'm coming with you. I'll continue afterwards…"

"No Carter. You're not. You're going to take the rest of the day off too, just like Daniel. You both need some downtime. Don't give me wrong, I want you to find a cure for Daniel too. But I don't want you to get yourself sick from overwork."

"But, sir!"

"No, buts Carter. At what time did you start working today and how many breaks did you take, Carter?"

"Well… Since 4 am, sir. I couldn't sleep, so I went to work. About breaks… I… um… I think I had two breaks."

"I figured and I'm afraid your breaks wasn't long. So I order you to take the rest of the day off. Now let's go. Teal'c's waiting."

~oOo~

Outside at the SGC, on the sports ground, people nearby could hear laughter. One laughter in particularly warmed their heart's, was the laughter of a child.

SG-1 had fun playing basketball. Teal'c and Daniel in a team and Jack and Sam was the other.

"Hey, you two, you cheated!" Jack told Teal'c and Daniel, who was winning big time.

"No, we did not O'Neill." Teal'c said with an lifted eyebrow.

"No, we didn't, Jack. You're just a bad loser."

"Hey! Watch it or there won't any ice cream for you this evening, young man." Jack said teasingly, while he started to tickle Daniel.

"Stop… Jack… Please. Teal'c… please… help… me." Daniel said between laughter.

"As you wish DanielJackson." Teal'c said and walked to Daniel's aid.

"O'Neill, stop tickling DanielJackson."

"If I don't what are you planning to do Teal'c?"

"I will tickle you, O'Neill. You have been warned."

"Do you even know how to tickle?"

"Maybe Teal'c doesn't know how to tickle but I do Colonel," Sam said and started to tickle Jack.

"I have not tickled anyone before, but I can see it is not hard to do," Teal'c said and helped Sam.

"Carter, that's an in-subordination to your commanding officer," Jack warned teasingly.

"You gave me the day off, remember."

"Consider yourself lucky, Carter."

Not long after the whole SG-1 team started a wrestling, while the adult was careful not to squash their youngest team member. Daniel laughter grew lauder and lauder. It was music to his team member's ears.

Jack was sorry that Daniel's laughter would soon turn to an end. He knew that it would be long till he would hear the laughter from him again. He wished he didn't have to tell Daniel about McKenzie's plans, but he couldn't hold it up much longer. He had to tell him soon and he planned to do it, when they came back to their VIP room.

~oOo~

When Jack and Daniel's arrived at their VIP room, Jack told Daniel to take a bath and change to his pyjamas.

"I'm not tired Jack. It's to early for me to go to bed," Daniel whined.

"I'm not asking you to go to bed afterwards, Daniel. I just want you to make yourself ready for bed. You can watch TV or read in one of your books till it's your bedtime. That's all."

"Oh… okay," Daniel said and walked to the bathroom.

When Daniel was finished with his bath, he wanted to tell Daniel about McKenzie, but he couldn't make himself do it, before the kid's bedtime. He wanted Daniel to have a care free sleep as possible, so he decided to tell him in the morning.

For the first time since Daniel's downsizing Daniel had a peaceful sleep.

After they had breakfast Jack asked him to sit down on the bed beside him

"Danny, I need to tell you something… I have bad news for you."

"Jack. You worrying me. Did our allies contacted us. They can't help me can they?"

"No, Daniel. We still haven't heard from them. It's about Dr. McKenzie. The thing is… he wants to get custody of you…"

Daniel's face turned pale and he screamed, "Nooooooo!" The scream was echoing all over the SGC, people turned their heads to try to find the source of the scream.


	6. Chapter 6

Legacy Rewind Chapter 6: "Ward of the State"

A/N: Thank you all for your great reviews The cover art was made by Lyn T. Lyn and her friend Beth helped me to change the art so it could be put up here on . Thank you so much Lyn and Beth.

After hearing Jack's announcement, Daniel started to sob. Jack pulled him onto his lap and tried to calm him down with soothing words, but it didn't help. It seemed to take forever before Daniel calmed down. Only soft hiccupping could now be heard.

Suddenly, Daniel pulled out of Jack's embrace and started frantically opening drawers and pulling out his clothes.

"Daniel, what are you doing?" Jack asked.

"Jack, we've got to pack. We've got to hurry!"

"Pack? Why?"

"We've got to run away, Jack. Before it's too late. Come on, Jack. Help me pack!"

"Sorry, Daniel, but I think we should stay."

"No, we can't, Jack. I won't survive living with Dr. MacKenzie. I just won't!"

"What life would it be for you, on the run, Daniel? We've got to try the legal way first, but if we don't win, I promise you, that then we'll get as far away from Dr. MacKenzie as we can, even if we have to live with the Tok'ra," Jack said and shivered at the thought.

"Promise?"

"I promise. I'm never going to leave you behind again."

~oOo~

At the check-in ,Jack greeted Colonel Harmon Rabb, a JAG officer from Washington DC, and an old friend of Jack's.

"Harm, thank you for coming. I hope you can help me with my problem. The poor kid is scared to death, that he might have to go into foster care with D. MacKenzie," Jack said while he shook Harm's hand.

Rabb looked in shock at Jack. "I'm glad to be here. It's long time, no see … Have you had a face lift, Jack? You look 20 years younger. Please, tell me how you did that? It might come in handy for me in a few years."

"No, I haven't had a face lift and I'm afraid that it wouldn't be much of a help for you. As soon as you have signed the papers, I can tell you why I look 20 years younger."

"Looking forward to hearing about that. Well, I'm curious as to what's special about this kid of yours."

"Well, let's go to a quieter room first, and I have some papers ready for you to sign, before you get more information about my kid."

Jack showed Rabb into an interrogation room. In the observation room next door sat a small boy looking into the two-way mirror and listening to what was going on inside the other room.

After Rabb had signed the non-disclosure papers, he asked, "So tell me what's so special about the kid that I need to know about before the custody hearing? Has it something to do with his parents?"

"At first I thought about making something up about his background, but it's important that you know a lot of stuff about him to help me win the case."

"Good that you decided to tell me the truth, because I need to know the whole truth to be able to really help you. So spill the beans, Jack."

"Okay. I'm afraid that you'll probably think I'm crazy when I tell you some important things about Danny. Danny was, a few days ago, an adult. He—"

"Wait a minute Jack. You want custody of an adult? I thought you said that the kid is four years old. Does that mean that he had brain damage and has regressed to a four year old and been declared incompetent of taking care of himself?"

"No. It means that his body has de-aged to a four year old, but he has all his adult memories intact. He's emotionally a four year old, though."

Rabb stared at Jack with his mouth open. "Did you hit your head recently, Jack? You're right, I think you're crazy."

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's not," Jack said. He looked at the mirror and said, "You can come in here now, Danny."

"It doesn't only sound crazy, Jack. It **is **crazy."

"It's not, Harm. I de-aged too, but I was luckier than Daniel. I only de-aged 20 years and I'm still in an adult body."

Rabb was about to reply, but he was interrupted by Daniel coming into the room.

"Come here, Danny. I want to introduce you to an old friend of mine, Colonel Harmon Rabb."

Daniel looked shyly at Rabb while he made his way to Jack's side. Jack lifted him onto his lap.

"Harm, this fellow here is my friend, Dr. Daniel Jackson," Jack said, pointing at Daniel. "Daniel, say hi to my friend, Harmon Rabb."

"Hi, Colonel Rabb," Daniel said shyly. "I hope you can help us, so that I can stay with Jack. I don't want to live with Dr. MacKenzie. He's a meanie."

"Nice to meet you, Daniel… Wait a minute, Jack… Doctor Daniel Jackson? You mean that this kid is a doctor?" Rabb asked in bewilderment.

"Yes, Doctor Daniel Jackson with three PhD's. Well I guess that he's the youngest PhD doctor in the world, at least on Earth."

"On Earth?"

"Don't say that you believe in aliens, Jack."

"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows, Harm."

"I'm not saying that I believe you, but can you tell me how he got turned back into a child?"

"I can't tell you everything, because some is still very classified and I can't give you clearance for everything that goes on in this complex. What I can tell you is that Daniel was exposed to something. We didn't know that he was exposed to it at first. He started to show signs of schizophrenia and was committed to mental health. A few days later when I visited him for the second time at the hospital, I found him in this size. Later, we found out what he'd been exposed to. While some colleagues of mine and I tried to study the source of Daniel's downsizing, we were exposed to it too. Luckily, we found a way to stop the process with an antidote. So we didn't turn back to children as Daniel did, but we're not allowed to leave this complex on till next week to make sure we're not de-aging any further."

"Still, I'm not sure I believe what you're telling me. It really sounds crazy. Are you sure, Jack, that it wasn't you who was committed to mental health? And that Danny is really a son of a friend of yours or maybe even your own?"

"He told you the truth, Colonel," Daniel said. "I'm really Dr. Daniel Jackson, and only few days ago, I was an adult." He then told Rabb about his first childhood and about things that only an adult would know. "If you still don't believe us, we can call Doctor Janet and she can tell you that we're not crazy."

"Wow! You really know a lot. If you're not Dr. Daniel Jackson, then you're really a very smart four year old."

"He is Dr. Daniel Jackson, Harm. Still, he is also a very smart four year old, and he was also very smart when he was an adult."

"Well, I would like to meet Doctor Janet. Looking forward to her input on this."

"Okay, I'll call Dr. Fraiser," Jack said.

Luckily, Dr. Fraiser wasn't busy with patients so it didn't take long before she arrived. She confirmed to Rabb what Jack and Daniel had told him.

"I really hope that you're not trying to make a big joke of an Navy officer, just because I'm not Air Force…"

"No, Harm. I wouldn't joke about something like that," Janet said with a smile.

"I have a feeling that this place is not quite about deep space radar telemetry. Okay, Jack, then let's start making some strategy about how we're going to win this case. First, tell me, who is this Dr. MacKenzie?"

~oOo~

A few days went by and today was the first hearing. General Hammond had found a judge they could trust their secrets with, who also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The hearing was in a conference room at the SGC. Before the judge could give one of them custody of Daniel, he needed to declare Daniel incompetent and a ward of the state. Since Daniel wasn't a normal child and that he had adult memories, Colonel Rabb wanted a hearing to find out how much Daniel was allowed to decide for himself. He hoped that way Daniel would be allowed to choose who he wanted to live with and that the judge would respect Daniel's wishes.

"Since Daniel has all his adult memories intact and knows right from wrong, I think it would be in Daniel's best interest that he be allowed to keep most of his rights. Such as the right to decide who he wants as his guardian and who he wants to live with. I want to call Dr. Fraiser to the stand who can confirm that Daniel is intellectually an adult and that he'll be able to make some major decisions of his own life," Colonel Rabb said.

Dr. Fraiser walked to the stand.

"Doctor, can you tell me in your experience as a doctor, will Dr. Daniel Jackson be able to live on his own in the state he is now?"

"Despite of the adult memories he still has, I can't, in best conscience, say that he can, because he's physically and emotionally a four year old. I have observed that he needs someone to make sure he get his basic needs covered. If we let him have full control over his life, he'll drink coffee, work almost 24/7 and not get enough rest. He did that a lot when he was still an adult. His four year old body won't be able to stand that kind of stress in the long run."

"Will Dr. Jackson need someone to take full control over his life, Doctor?"

"No, because of his adult intellect, I think he'll be able to have some say in his life, like deciding who he wants to live with and having control over his own property."

"Thank you, Dr. Fraiser. That will be all," Colonel Rabb said.

When Colonel Rabb was finished with Dr. Fraiser, it was Dr. MacKenzie's lawyer stood to examine her.

"Dr. Fraiser, do you have a degree in adult and child psychiatry?"

"No, sir."

"Then how can you know that the boy will be able to have some control over his life? Be able to know what is best for him?"

"I don't have any degree in that field, but I have studied the field in my study for my MD degree as it was obligatory and I keep myself updated as much as I can because of what my patients are going through in this complex. I'm also a mother to a teenager, and Dr. Jackson, in spite of his emotions, has a better understanding of life than my daughter. My daughter would use all her money on clothes and stuff teenagers think they so need. I have witnessed that Daniel knows how to handle his assets wisely. As a doctor, I think Daniel should mostly be treated as an adult."

"Is it normal for an adult to have temper tantrums, to need to sit on his male friend's lap and be in need of cuddling, Doctor Fraiser?"

"No, sir."

"Isn't it true, Doctor Fraiser, that the boy has often shown full blown temper tantrums and hit Colonel O'Neill? Isn't it true that the boy needs lots of cuddling? Isn't it true he cries a lot and then needs to be calmed down as a normal four year old would? Isn't it true that he gets disciplined like a normal four year old?"

Dr. Fraiser had to say yes to all those things, except the discipline.

"You'd better ask Colonel O'Neill about the disciplining, sir."

"No further questions. I'll like to call Dr. MacKenzie at the stand."

MacKenzie stood, straightened his jacket and made his way to the stand.

"As a psychiatrist, Doctor McKenzie, do you consider Daniel Jackson an adult or a child?"

"I consider him a child. Sadly, I haven't been able to get much time with him since his downsizing, because Colonel O'Neill has refused to let me near him. But the few times I have met him and heard how he has acted since the downsizing, I'm concerned about Colonel O'Neill treating Daniel as an equal adult. As long as he's in the body of a child, I think it's in his best interests that he be treated as a child. He needs to face that he's a child and he should have the opportunity to interact with other children. I'm afraid if he continues to be treated like an adult, he'll have an emotional breakdown."

"So, in your opinion as a doctor, do you think that Daniel Jackson will be able to take care of himself and make important decisions for his own life, like who can take the best care of him?"

"No. As I said earlier I'm afraid that he'll have an emotional breakdown if we expect too much of him."

"Thank you, Dr. MacKenzie. No further questions."

It was now Colonel Rabb's turn to question him.

"Dr. MacKenzie, do you have any experience with an adult who has been downsized to a child before Dr. Daniel Jackson's downsizing?"

"No."

"So you have never treated a child, who has formerly been an adult, with an emotional breakdown, because his surroundings have expected too much of him and let him act as an adult?"

"No."

"So how can you be sure that will happen to Dr. Jackson?"

"Well, I have my experience from studies of children, who were treated early as adults and their surroundings expected too much of them and they ended up with severe mental and emotional breakdowns."

"Did any of them have memories of almost 30 years of life experience, like Dr. Jackson, Dr. MacKenzie?"

"No, but "

"So you can't say for sure that Dr. Jackson will have a breakdown if he's allowed to keep most of his adult rights?"

"No. But ."

"That will be all, Dr. MacKenzie. I have no further questions. I call Colonel O'Neill to the stand."

Jack left his seat. Before he walked to the stand, he whispered in Daniel's ear that he'd have to stop glaring at Dr. MacKenzie, and that he should remember to behave so that the judge wouldn't get the wrong impression of Daniel.

"Colonel O'Neill, you have spent a lot of time with Dr. Jackson since his downsizing. How do you see him in the state he's in now?"

"An almost 30 year old adult trapped in a four year old body, with all the emotions of a four year old."

"Have you observed if he'd be able to live on his own and be able to keep his freedom, Colonel?"

"In the time I have spent with him since his downsizing, I'm sure he'll be able to have some say on his life. Like who he wants to live with, but I'm afraid, because of his four year old physiology and emotions, he won't be able to live on his own. He needs someone to help him in his daily life. I've observed that he listens even less to his basic needs now than before his downsizing. Like getting enough sleep, and eating the right food. If he were allowed, he would have lived on coffee alone. I have caught him once and a while drinking others' coffee when they weren't looking."

"Who has made sure that he gets his basics needs covered all this time since his downsizing, Colonel?"

"I have. I was the one who found him this way, and he's my best friend, so it was natural for me to take him under my wing. I get him to take a nap in the afternoon, he claims he isn't tired, but most of the time, his eyes are red and he hides his yawns, but it usually takes under two minutes before he falls asleep."

"So you have observed that he won't be able to live on his own. Have you observed that he'll be able to have some say in his own life and welfare, like where and who he'd be happiest living with?"

"Yes, I have observed that he can. He's been allowed to work a few hours a day and he hasn't had any trouble making important decisions in his work and I'm sure he can handle some important decisions on his life."

"Thank you, Colonel. No further questions."

Colonel Rabb went back to his seat and Dr. MacKenzie's lawyer went to Colonel O'Neill.

"Colonel O'Neill, you claim that Daniel Jackson is an adult trapped in a child's body, but still you are disciplining him like any other four year old, when he has a temper tantrum. Am I right, Colonel?"

"No, you're not quite right. I always let him know what his options are when he doesn't stop the temper tantrum and so far he has always stopped, and there has been no need to discipline him, because he was wise enough to stop."

"Isn't it true that Daniel hit you in one of his temper tantrums? Would you say that is the normal behaviour of a so called adult, Colonel?"

"He just had been downsi—"

"Just answer my question, Colonel."

"No. But "

"That'll be all, Colonel. No further questions," the lawyer said and he didn't allow Jack to explain Daniel's behavior further.

"I have heard enough," the judge announced. "If there are no more witnesses, the hearing is over." At the nods from both attorneys, he continued, "One hour recess. In an hour, I'll let you all know my decisions on Dr. Daniel Jackson's status."

During the recess, Jack took Daniel to the commissary. Teal'c, Sam and Janet joined them, but no one ate or talked much, because they were worried about the judge's decision. They stayed there till it was time to back to the court room.

Inside the courtroom, they all sat anxiously awaiting the judge's verdict.

Daniel tucked himself close to Jack, and Jack held a protective arm around him.

"This case is a very new field in my line of work," the judge began. "Since no one has had any experience like this before, we're in unknown territory. So I may be making a big mistake with my decision, but one thing you all must know, I'm only thinking of Daniel Jackson's welfare. I can't, in my right conscience, emancipate Daniel Jackson since he's physically and emotionally a four year old, no matter how smart he is or how many memories he has of being an adult. So I hereby pronounce Dr. Daniel Jerome Jackson a ward of the state. I'm not quite convinced that Dr. Jackson is fully cable of deciding what's best for him. So there will be a custody hearing to decide who will be the best guardian to ensure that Dr. Jackson is well cared for. The hearing will be set for two days' time. In the meantime I give Dr. MacKenzie temporary custody of Daniel Jackson."

The judge was interrupted by a scream from Daniel.

"No, please, you can't do this to me! I don't want to spend one minute with that creep. I hate him!" Daniel said and started to cry. Jack pulled him onto his lap and tried to calm him down, but with no luck.

"Sorry, Daniel," the judge said. "I think it'll be best for you that you'll be able to live outside the base and get some fresh air and have some downtime from work. Since Colonel O'Neill isn't allowed to leave the complex yet, I have no choice than to give temporary custody over to Dr. MacKenzie. It doesn't mean that I already have decided that he'll get permanent custody of you. Case closed. The custody hearing will be on Thursday at 1300 hours."

As soon as the judge left the room. Dr. MacKenzie walked over to Daniel and Jack.

"It's time to go home, Danny. Say goodbye to the Colonel and then we're going to the VIP room to pack your things."

"No. I'm not going with you. I don't care what the judge said, and don't call me Danny. Jack is the only one whose allowed to call me that!" Daniel yelled.

"You heard the judge, Daniel. You are going with me, and if I have to carry you, I will," MacKenzie said and he tried to separate Daniel from Jack, but Daniel held tightly onto Jack.

"Please, Dr. MacKenzie. Let us at least say proper goodbyes. I'll help Daniel pack," Jack said.

"Okay, Colonel. I'll give you two an hour. Don't try any stupid stunts to keep Daniel away from me."

When they got to their VIP room, Daniel said, "We have to run away now. We've got to hurry, Jack!"

"I'm sorry, Daniel, I told you, we can't run away. It wouldn't be a good life for you, and besides, we need to be available for when our allies get here, in case they know how to un-shrink you."

"You promised that we'd run away if Dr. MacKenzie got custody of me and now he has. So let's go, Jack!"

"I meant if he gets permanent custody of you. I promise you I'll keep my promise if I don't get full custody."

Teal'c, Sam, Janet and General Hammond came to say their goodbyes to Daniel. They were still there when Dr. MacKenzie came to get him.

Daniel wrapped himself around Jack and wouldn't let go. He sobbed like his life had ended. Dr. MacKenzie tore Daniel away from Jack's embrace and Daniel cried even harder and raised his arms to Jack and was screaming to get back to Jack's safe arms. Sam and Janet had tears in their eyes and they weren't the only ones, General Hammond and Jack had too. Daniel's screams could be heard in the distance for a long time.

A/N: Sorry for making Dr. MacKenzie so mean. One chapter left.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: "Welcome Home, Danny."

**A/N: this is the last part.**

Daniel had screamed most of the way to Dr. MacKenzie's home. Dr. MacKenzie had warned him from time to time to stop the screaming or he would be put early to bed with no dessert. Like that scared Daniel.

"I don't care! I want to go back to Jack. He cares for me and you don't. You only see me as a study case."

"That's not true, Danny."

"I told you to stop calling me Danny, it's Dr. Jackson to you!"

"Sorry, but that won't happen as long as you are this size, and besides, I can't call you that when we're in public, and with my wife. So I'll go with a compromise. I'll call you Daniel or do you want me to call you Jerome?"

"Daniel is better than Danny, but when we're at the SGC, I want you to call me Dr. Jackson. Don't you ever call me Jerome! I hate that name! Why did the judge have to mention my whole name anyway?"

"Okay, Daniel it is then. Well, Daniel, as soon as I get full custody of you, there won't be any need for me to call you Dr. Jackson, since you won't get back to the SGC and work. I want you to have a second chance at a safe childhood. I know your background. So I'll make sure you go to a good school with other gifted children, so you won't feel like an outsider. While you said goodbye to Colonel O'Neill, I've set up a meeting with that school and we're going there tomorrow."

"You've got to be kidding me! I've got three PhDs, for Christ's sake! I will definitely feel like an outsider. Don't count on getting permanently custody of me! Jack will make sure of that!"

"I'll make sure you won't feel like an outsider and that you won't remember that you got three PhDs or that you were once an adult."

"What? You can't do that to me against my will!" Daniel objected.

"That I will, as soon I get full custody of you. You've just been declared a ward of the state and that means that you haven't much say anymore. I'm confident that I'll be the one that gets custody of you. I don't think that the judge would let a man who was to blame for his son dying because of his recklessness of leaving his gun nearby so that a child could get his hands on it have custody of another child."

"That's not fair to do that to Jack. He suffered enough with the guilt and the loss of his son. You don't have to rub it in! Besides, Jack has learned his lesson. He would never let any child near a gun again, not even me, who knows how to handle one! So don't you dare use that against him or I'll make sure that it will be a living hell for you!"

"Enough of this nonsense. We're home. My wife is anxious to meet you. Be nice and remember to behave like a normal four year old. My wife doesn't know you were once an adult. I told her that you just lost your parents a few months ago in a car accident and that you have lived with your father's best friend till now. I also told her that you are Daniel Jackson Junior."

"I'm not really four and I can't remember when I was four the first time around, so I don't know how to behave like a normal four year old. So don't count on that."

"Well, maybe not now, but you will for sure know in a few days after the custody hearing. Let's get inside."

As soon as they were out of the car, Daniel tried to run for it. Far away from MacKenzie. Sadly, he didn't get far. Dr. MacKenzie grabbed him and gave him a hard swat on his backside.

"Don't you ever try to run away from me again or else," Dr. MacKenzie said and dragged Daniel inside the house.

Daniel had tears in his eyes; the swat had really hurt. He never thought that Dr. MacKenzie would be the first one that would tan his hide. He thought Jack would be the one and only who dared to do that. At least he knew that Jack would do that out of love, but he was sure that Dr. McKenzie only did it to show that he was the alpha male and that he had power over him.

"That hurt. Don't you ever do that again or I'll send Teal'c after you and you'll be sorry!" Daniel said while he rubbed his sore behind.

"It was supposed to hurt. Behave, Daniel, then I won't have to do it again. Caitlin, are you home?"

"I'm in the boy's room, honey!" Mrs. McKenzie yelled.

"Let's go to your new room, Daniel. My wife and I bought some furniture, toys and books and other stuff you'd need."

"What a waste of money," Daniel said.

When they came into the room, they saw Mrs. MacKenzie putting clothes in drawers. As soon as she heard them, she turned around and walked in front of Daniel, bending down to give him a hug. Daniel tensed. He didn't like getting a hug from a stranger. He already missed Jack's comfortable embrace. He so wanted to go home.

"Oh my. Honey, you didn't tell me that he was such a cute looking little boy. What pretty blue eyes you've got. Glad to meet you, Danny…"

"Caitlin, the boy doesn't want to be called Danny, so just call him Daniel."

"Oh? Sorry, Daniel. Let me show you your room. I hope you'll like the toys we bought you," she said, taking his hand. He was about to harshly pull his hand away, but Dr. MacKenzie gave him a warning look. He didn't want to risk another swat so soon after the last one, which still stung a lot, so he let her hold his hand.

After she showed him all the things, she asked, "So, Daniel, do you like the toys? I know you like reading a lot. Books that are way over the average reading material for a four year old, but we think that isn't healthy for you to only be reading that for the whole day. We want you to have fun with playing too and get lots of fresh air."

"Thanks, Mrs MacKenzie, but I won't be here long, because my Dad's best friend, Jack, is going to be my new daddy. So you shouldn't have wasted your money on me."

"You can call me Caitlin. Daniel, don't you worry about our money. You're too young to be worried about that. You'll get enough time playing with them, so don't worry about that. I know you must miss your parents and your dad's friend very much, but if you stayed here, you'll get both a mommy and a daddy. So how does that sound, Daniel?"

"No! I only need Jack as my new daddy. He loves me just as much as my mommy and daddy did. You don't know me and I don't need a new mommy!" Daniel said and cried crocodile tears.

Mrs. MacKenzie picked Daniel up and tried to calm him down. "Sorry, Daniel. I didn't mean to upset you. It's okay. You'll get to know us pretty soon and know that we only want the best for you."

Dr. MacKenzie let his wife handle Daniel and just stood there and observed them together.

Daniel pretended that he had calmed down. Mrs. MacKenzie put him back down on the floor. "Daniel, we'll let you have some alone time and get to know your new room. I'll be back in a few minutes and help you with your bath and then getting to bed. My husband told me that you ate before you left, but if you're hungry, you can have a small snack before bedtime."

"It's too early for bed and I'm not tired, and besides, I don't need help with baths. My parents always allowed me to take a shower on my own," Daniel lied with a whine in his voice.

"I'm sorry about the loss of your parents, but they aren't here anymore. Four year olds take baths and not showers and they go early to bed. After your bath, you don't have to go to bed right away. You can stay up a little and get to know your new home and us."

The MacKenzie's left the room.

~o0o~

Outside the room, Caitlin said, "Poor kid. He really misses his parents and his dad's best friend, but after what you told me about the death of that man's son, he shouldn't be allowed to be near this child."

"No, and I'll make sure he won't."

"I wish that I could come with you to the custody hearing. What's so classified about Daniel Jackson Senior that I'm not allowed to hear? I should be there too. I'm the one who may become his foster mother."

"Sorry, Caitlin, but that isn't possible. Don't worry. I'll give you the heads up as soon as I know any news about the case and tell you all that you need to know about the boy and his parents."

Later, Mrs. MacKenzie walked back to Daniel's room while her husband was in his study. She just walked in the room without knocking on the door, startling Daniel.

"Sorry, Daniel, I didn't mean to surprise you. Why are you just sitting on your bed and not playing with your toys?"

"Jack would have knocked on the door before walking into my room, and I don't play with toys, that's only for babies. I want Jack, please, let me go back to him."

"Sorry, Daniel, but you're our responsibility now. Come on, it's time for your bath. On the other hand, I think I should show you around the house first and then the bathroom."

~o0o~

Daniel was very happy that the bath was finally over. What was so embarrassing for him was having to let Mrs. MacKenzie help him with the bath. He tried more than once to convince her that he could do it himself, but she would have none of it and said that she didn't want to come in and find him drowned in the bathtub. He then told her that couldn't happen if she'd let him take a shower. She got irritated then and said that, no child should talk back to an elder and if he kept on doing that, he would be sent straight to bed without a bedtime story. He screamed at her that he didn't want to hear a bedtime story anyway, because that was only for babies too. So he was sent straight to bed.

~oOo~

Daniel hadn't slept at all. He heard Mrs. MacKenzie come regularly into his room to check on him, but he pretended to be asleep. Daniel was the first one to get up. He went to the bathroom and did his morning ritual, except from shaving. He still needed to get used to that.

He went to the kitchen and got a chair, pushing himself onto the kitchen table where the coffee machine stood and started to make coffee. He was so looking forward to a cup of coffee. He hadn't had one for ages. Jack had refused to serve him that.

He managed to make the coffee and get some in a cup and drink a few sips before Dr. MacKenzie showed up. He was furious when he saw Daniel. He grabbed the cup of coffee out of Daniel's hand and held it out of his reach.

"This is my house, and as long as you are living here, you're not allowed to make coffee or drink it. If I ever catch you doing it again, I promise that your four year old behind will be sorry. Since you didn't know about this house rule, I'm not giving you a spanking now. But since you should have known, and that I'm sure you did, you'll get a timeout in the corner for ten minutes," Dr. MacKenzie said and showed Daniel the corner.

When the ten minutes were over and Daniel was allowed to leave the corner, Mrs. McKenzie came into the kitchen.

"Ah, here you are, Daniel. I was worried when I saw your bed was empty and that you weren't in the bathroom…" Mrs. MacKenzie said. She looked at Daniel and then at her husband. "What's wrong? You two look a little irritated. What happened?"

Dr. MacKenzie told his wife what Daniel had done and of his punishment.

"I hope you have learned your lesson, Daniel. God knows what could have happened to you when you crawled on the kitchen table and played with boiling water. Who in their right mind taught you, a four year old, to make coffee?"

"M-My dad taught me, he loved coffee just as much as I do," Daniel declared. "Ummm, it's yummy!"

"Did your mother really allow your father to teach you that?"

"Yes. She loved coffee too," Daniel lied.

Mrs. MawcKenzie looked speechless and just shook her head. She looked at her watch and said, "I'd better make some breakfast for us before we all have to go to the meeting at Daniel's new school."

"I don't wanna go to that stupid school. My parents didn't want me to go to a school, they preferred home schooling."

"Watch your language, young man," Mrs. MacKenzie said. "You're going to that school, no matter what. So save your energy for playing with your new classmates."

Daniel was sick and tired of them telling him what to not do and say. He stopped arguing because he realized it was waste of time and energy anyway, since he would soon be back with Jack and he would make sure that he wouldn't have to go back to the MacKenzie's.

~oOo~

In MacKenzie's car outside the private school for gifted children, MacKenzie said, "I expect you to behave when you meet your new teachers and classmates. Do I make myself clear, Daniel?"

Daniel just nodded.

"I didn't hear you, young man."

"Yes, sir," Daniel said and rolled his eyes.

"Good. Let's get inside," Dr. MacKenzie said while his wife unbuckled Daniel's booster seat belts and helped him out of the car.

At the admitting desk, they were asked to wait outside the principal's office. A few minutes later the principal came out and greeted them.

"Dr. and Mrs. MacKenzie. Nice to meet you," the principal said, shaking their hands and then he looked at Daniel. "So this is your new charge? Welcome, Daniel, to your new school. We're looking forward to getting to know you," he said and shook his hand.

"Thank you, sir, but I'm not going to go to school here. I'll soon be back with my daddy's best friend and he won't force me to go to a school where I don't want to go," Daniel said as politely as he could.

"Daniel! Only talk when you're asked," Dr. MacKenzie said. "Sorry, Mr. Samson. He still needs to learn some manners. It won't happen again."

"Don't worry. Our new pupils only try that a few times and they all quickly learn that we don't tolerate impolite behavior. Daniel, I want you to stay here for a few minutes. I'd like to talk to your foster parents alone."

"Stay put and behave, Daniel," Dr. MacKenzie said and then followed his wife and the principal into the office.

Daniel looked around and when he was sure no one was looking, he put his tongue out at Dr. MacKenzie.

~o0o~

In the principal's office, they discussed which grade Daniel should be placed in.

"As soon as you two get full custody of the boy, I want you to contact me and I'll arrange a test for him, but I think at first I'll place him in kindergarten, because, as you said, the boy hasn't had much contact with children his own age. I want him to be in kindergarten till he's learned some social skills."

"That's a good idea, Mr. Samson. We want him to learn that too," MacKenzie said.

"Good. How about I show you the school?"

They went back to collect Daniel and the principal led them to the kindergarten class. He knocked on the door and walked in, followed by Dr. and Mrs. MacKenzie and Daniel.

"Ms. McQueen, I want you to meet our new pupil, Daniel Jackson Junior. He'll soon be starting in your class."

"Welcome to our school, Daniel. I'm looking forward to getting to know you. I'm sure you're going to like it here," Ms. McQueen said, smiling at Daniel.

"Thank you, Ms. McQueen. The classroom looks nice. I'm sure I'm going to like it here too," Daniel lied. _Me and kindergarten. I'll be bored to death_.

Daniel was forced to say hello to all his new classmates and play with them for half an hour. He played as little as he could get away with. He didn't have any fun at all. He was happy when they finally left the school.

The rest of the day wasn't fun for him either. The MacKenzie's tried to get him to play with his new toys, but he kept on reading the book he had taken with him. Until they took it away from him. They sent him out to their garden where they had put up a swing and told him to play. But Daniel just sat on the grass and wrapped his arms around himself in a self-hug. He had tears in his eyes. He missed Jack terribly. He needed Jack's embrace so badly.

~oOo~

Daniel was so happy when those two horrible days at the MacKenzie's were over and he was so looking forward to see his friends again, who he had missed terribly, especially Jack.

As they entered the SGC, Daniel tried to leave Dr. MacKenzie, to get to Jack, but MacKenzie stopped him.

"I want to go see Jack. I'm sure he missed me."

"You'll see him soon enough, Daniel. I promised Dr. Fraiser to get you to the infirmary. She wants to give you a physical."

"I told you to call me Dr. Jackson, when we're here at the SGC, Dr. MacKenzie."

Dr. MacKenzie ignored him and took the boy's hand, leading him to the infirmary.

"Stay put, Daniel. I'll come and get you when Dr. Fraiser is finished with you, and don't try to contact Colonel O'Neill. I forbid you to see him."

"Dr. MacKenzie. Don't you ever talk to Dr. Jackson like that again in my infirmary!" Janet Frasier demanded. "Dr. Jackson is still an honored member of the SGC and he deserves to be treated with respect. If he wants to see Colonel O'Neill, he is entitled to do so. Do I make myself clear, Doctor McKenzie?"

"I'm his guardian. I'm allowed to decide who he's allowed to meet or not, Dr. Fraiser," McKenzie blustered.

"You only got temporary custody, and only because Colonel O'Neill and I weren't allowed to leave the SGC. Luckily, we got the all clear today."

"Is that really true, Doctor Janet?" Daniel asked hopefully.

"Yes, sweetie. It's true."

Daniel ran to Janet and gave her a big hug.

"That's the best news ever! Then the judge can't refuse to let me live with Jack. Now that he's able to take me off the base."

"What? I thought you wouldn't be allowed to do that till next week," Dr. MacKenzie protested.

"There hasn't been any de-aging for days now and we haven't shown any more symptoms. So we got cleared today," Dr. Fraiser said and then she turned her attention on Daniel. "How are you, Daniel? Have they treated you okay?"

"I'm better now that I'm back at the SGC, but I'll feel even better when I see Jack. They treated me like a baby. I hated that. They bought toys and stuff for me and even forced me to visit a school they want me to go to."

Dr. Fraiser looked in annoyance at the psychiatrist. "Dr. MacKenzie, you must be really confident that you'll get full custody of Daniel. Don't you think it was too soon to make arrangements like that? We haven't even been contacted by our allies yet, so we still don't know if Daniel's current size is permanent."

"No, not at all, Dr. Fraiser. No judge in their right mind would let Colonel O'Neill have custody of a child. It could take months before we hear from our allies. The boy needs a stable home now, and not in a few months."

"Don't be so sure about that," Dr. Fraiser said and turned her attention back to Daniel. "Daniel, let's get started with the exam."

Dr. McKenzie left them, and on his way out of the infirmary, he met Colonel O'Neill.

"Colonel."

"How is Daniel? I heard that he's in the infirmary."

"He's fine, Colonel. Dr. Fraiser just wanted to give him a physical, before the hearing."

"Oh. That's good. I was worried that he was sick. I'll go see him then."

"Sorry, Colonel, I can't allow that. Daniel has to learn to live without you. It'll be too hard on him when he has to say goodbye to you again."

"Don't you dare try and keep me away from him, Doctor. Now that I've been cleared to leave this complex, I have a better chance to win this battle."

Jack pushed Dr. MacKenzie away from the entrance to the infirmary and walked in. The shrink followed him.

"Colonel O'Neill, I told you that you're not allowed to see him," MacKenzie protested.

Jack confronted MacKenzie face to face. "What did you just say, Doctor?" Jack said threateningly.

"Okay, you can see him this once." The shrink backed away. "You'd better say your goodbyes, because you won't be allowed to visit him when he comes to live with my wife and I."

"You can't do that. Daniel will miss me and the rest of his friends, it would be torture for him."

"He won't remember you or his former life as an adult."

"What are you planning on doing to Daniel?" Jack asked worriedly.

"As soon as I get full custody of Daniel, I'm going to repress some of his memories, with the help of hypnosis, so that Daniel can freely be a child without restraints from his adult memories."

"You son of a bitch! You can't just wipe out Daniel's adult memories against his will."

Dr. Fraiser was about to comment on it, but she was interrupted by Daniel's shout.

"Jack!" Daniel cried, running to Jack.

Jack picked him up. "Daniel. I missed you. This place hasn't been the same without you."

"I missed you too. I promise you, Jack, as soon as you become my guardian, I'll behave and do as I'm told. I'll do everything to be allowed to stay with you, so that I won't have to go back to the MacKenzie's. It was horrible there." Daniel told Jack all about what had happened there and what they forced him to do and the punishment he'd received.

Jack just stared in anger at MacKenzie, but didn't say a word and he didn't have to, his eyes said everything.

Jack noticed Dr. Fraiser standing in the background and said, "So, Doc. Are you finished with Daniel? Can I take him to Teal'c and Carter? I know they can't wait to see him."

"That is out of the question, Colonel," Dr. MacKenzie objected.

"I'm not finished yet, Colonel. I hardly started. As soon as Daniel heard your voice, he ran away from the exam room to get to you, but as soon as I am finished, you can take him with you," Dr. Fraiser said while she gave MacKenzie a glare, warning him from objecting to it.

"Okay, okay. Colonel O'Neill, enjoy your time with him, because it may be the last day you'll see him."

Jack could feel Daniel tense in his arms. He gave him a reassuring embrace and whispered in his ear, "Don't you worry, Daniel. If I don't get custody of you, I'll keep my promise. You'll never go back to the MacKenzie's." Jack could feel Daniel calming down.

"Daniel, we'd better get started. The colonel can stay with you if you want," Dr. Fraiser said.

Daniel nodded, not moving from Jack's embrace.

"Dr. MacKenzie, I'll have to ask you to leave the infirmary. You'll only upset my patient and I won't be able to do my job."

Dr. MacKenzie showed that he was defeated by leaving without any protest.

~oOo~

Daniel had stayed with Jack and the rest of his team till it was the time for the custody hearing.

At the hearing, Colonel O'Neill was the first one to be called to the stand. Dr. MacKenzie's lawyer tried to put him in a bad light of the judge, by using the death of his son, Charlie and other stuff Jack had done in the line of duty, of course only the bad stuff.

So Rabb tried to undo the harm by letting him tell the good times he had spent with Charlie before his death. And the good things he has done for the adult Daniel and now the child Daniel.

Dr. MacKenzie was the next. He was about to answer a question Rabb had asked, when they were interrupted by Harriman.

"Sorry, Your Honor, I have an important message for Colonel O'Neill."

"This better be good."

"It is, Your Honor. It's about Daniel's case."

"Okay. You can talk to the Colonel."

Jack looked questioningly at Harriman.

Harriman whispered in his ear, "Colonel. The Asgards and the Tok'ra are here, sir."

"Good news, Master Sergeant. Tell them Daniel and I will be there shortly."

Jack turned to the judge. "Sorry, Your Honor, but we just got a visit from two specialists and they may be able to un-shrink Dr. Jackson."

"That is really good news. I'll call a recess till further notice. Call me as soon as there's news."

"We will. Your Honor, I have one favor to ask of you. Please give me temporary custody of Daniel, now that I'm allowed to leave the complex."

"Okay, Colonel. You're now temporarily Daniel Jackson's guardian. If the specialist isn't able to undo the downsizing, a new hearing will be arranged."

~oOo~

Jack and Daniel couldn't get fast enough to the briefing room, where their allies were.

"Greetings, O'Neill and Dr. Jackson. I hope we'll be able to help you." Thor said.

"Glad to see you too, big guy. We hope that you'll be able to help us too. At the moment we have a nasty custody battle going on. It would be great if that wasn't necessary anymore."

"What is a custody battle, O'Neill?"

"It's when more than one person wants to take care of a child and they won't share the child with each other. In this case, it's Dr. MacKenzie and me."

"You are Daniel Jackson protector? You have saved him many times? So you would logically be the best caretaker of young Daniel Jackson, would you not?"

"Yes, and I hope the judge see that too."

After they were finished talking with Thor, Jacob Carter came and greeted them. "Selmac and I are so sorry, Daniel. About what happened to you. Sam told me about the incident with Dr. MacKenzie and his wife. I hope we can help you."

"Thank you Jacob. I hope you can help me too."

They all stayed a while in the briefing room and talked about the incident with Machello's invention and the after affect.

As soon as they were finished, they went to the infirmary to test Daniel.

Hours went by and finally they were finished testing. They all gathered again in the briefing room.

"So can you help Daniel?"

"Sorry. We need more time studying Machello's invention," Thor replied.

"How many more, Thor?"

"One or two…"

Jack didn't let Thor finish. "We can give you one to two hours or days, Thor. That won't be any trouble."

"We need one to two years, O'Neill, maybe more. Not hours or days. I am sorry. I hope we will be able to find a cure faster. Are you sure that Machello was a human? He was very intelligent."

"What? One to two years or even more?" Jack asked, shocked.

"That is correct, O'Neill. I am sorry that we are not able to help you faster. If we find a way to do so, I promise we will."

"Thanks, Thor," Jack said, disappointed. Jack looked at Daniel who sat beside him. The boy had tears in his eyes. Jack pulled him onto his lap and gave him a hug. The others left the briefing room to let them have some privacy.

"I'm so sorry, Daniel, that they couldn't help you, but I promise you we're not giving up," Jack said.

"I know. It's just… I had high hopes, that at least the Asgard could help me. I don't know if I can live like this for the next one to two years or even longer," Daniel said and he started to cry.

Jack lifted Daniel's chin, looked deep into his eyes and said. "I'll help you, Daniel. I promise. I won't let you go through this alone. If I have to run away with you, to be able to be with you, then I will."

Daniel wrapped his small arms around Jack's shoulders. "Thank you, Jack. That means a lot to me. If I have to spent one more day at the MacKenzie's, I know I won't survive it, even if Dr. MacKenzie erased my adult memories."

Jack looked worriedly at Daniel. "You know about that?"

"Yes, he told me when he told me about the school he want me to go to," Daniel said, while more tears ran down his cheeks. Jack dried them with his thumb.

"The psycho shrink can dream all he want, but I promise you, I'll make sure he doesn't do that to you. He's never going to hurt you again."

Daniel wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders once again and Jack wrapped his arms around Daniel's back. They just sat there a long time in silence.

~oOo~

The custody hearing was back on. The judge was the first one to speak. He looked at Daniel and said, "Dr. Jackson. I'm sorry that the specialist couldn't help you and that you still require a guardian, but I promise you, I'll name the guardian who the court thinks can give you the best care you need for your physical and emotional wellbeing." The judge then looked at Colonel Rabb. "Colonel Rabb, who do you want to call to the witness stand?"

"I call Dr. MacKenzie back to the stand, Your Honor."

When Daniel heard Dr. MacKenzie's name, he crawled onto Jack's lap. Jack wrapped a soothing arm around the boy and whispered in his ear, "Everything is going to be okay, Daniel. I promise."

Colonel interrogated Dr. MacKenzie about his relationship to Dr. Jackson and about the time when he was his doctor at mental health. Dr. MacKenzie objected, because Dr. Jackson had all the symptoms of schizophrenia, but the judge let Colonel Rabb continue.

When Colonel Rabb was finished with him, it was his lawyer's turn. In the meantime Daniel had fallen asleep in Jack's lap. Suddenly, they were interrupted by a scream from Daniel.

"Noooo! Please no more giant needles! I'm not crazy, Dr. MacKenzie. Stop hurting me! Please! Dr. MacKenzie, stop hurting me!" Jack held him in a firm grip and rocked him back and forth, talking to him in a soothing voice. "Shhh, Daniel, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you." Jack's soothing words soon calmed Daniel down.

"The boy is obviously very tired," the judge announced. "So I'm giving him two hour break. See you all back here in two hours."

When only Jack and Daniel were left in the room, Daniel said, "So how was I, Jack?"

"Daniel?"

"They believed the show right? Hopefully the judge did."

Jack lifted Daniel's chin up and looked questioningly at him. "You mean you weren't asleep or having a nightmare. That this was all an act?"

Daniel looked guiltily at Jack. "Yes. I had to do something, Jack. To let the judge know that it would be a mistake to let Dr. MacKenzie be my guardian. The nightmares weren't all fake. You know I have them almost every time when I'm asleep. I just demonstrated them to the judge."

"I don't know if they bought it, Daniel, but I sure did. If you hadn't told me I still would have believed you. I hope they believed it too."

Jack hugged Daniel and they just sat there a few minutes and then they went to their VIP room, so that Daniel could really take a nap.

"I'm not tired, Jack. I don't need a nap," Daniel said poutingly.

Oh, here we go again, Jack thought.

~oOo~

After the two hours had passed and they were back at the hearing, the Judge said, "I have heard enough. I'm almost ready to give you my verdict. But first I need to talk to Dr. Jackson alone. So if you all would leave the courtroom please."

Daniel sat nervously on his seat and looked pleadingly at Jack for him to stay with him.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. You heard the Judge. He wants to talk to you alone." Jack left the room after he had given Daniel a reassuring hug.

The Judge left his seat and walked to Daniel.

"Don't be afraid, Dr. Jackson. I'm not going to give you a hard time. I just want to let you have a chance to tell me what you think is the best verdict."

Daniel looked questioningly at the Judge. "Really? You mean that? Will you then really listen to my wishes?"

"Yes, but I can't promise that I'll agree with you. But I'll try to find a way to make a compromise, so that some of your wishes will be respected."

"Thanks, and for you calling me Dr. Jackson and not Danny or Daniel."

"Despite that I've declared you incompetent for your own welfare, doesn't mean that I'm allowed to treat you with disrespect. I have to respect your adult and academic knowledge."

Daniel smiled. He really liked the Judge. He hoped that the Judge was smart enough to know that Jack was the best for him.

"I want to live with Jack. Because he respects my adult and academic knowledge, like you do. Still, he respects my four year old side too. He makes sure that I get enough rest and fun. Even if I'm sometimes angry at him for it and give him a hard time. He doesn't get tired of me and turn his back on me. L-Like most of the foster parents I had during my first childhood. He's a great friend and father. I'm not sure he knows it, but I have for a long time dreamed of having a father like him."

"I've read your file and heard in the courtroom about your past childhood, but I want to hear your version. It was you who experienced it and no one else knows better than yourself."

Daniel told almost everything about his time with his parents in Egypt and their death that he'd witnessed. The rejection from his own grandfather. His experience with foster care, that he was shifted from foster home to foster home. And that some of them weren't very nice to him and physically abused him. His fears of being rejected once again by a new foster family.

"So you see, Judge. I need to be with someone that I trust, that I know won't send me away. Jack is the one. He would never leave me behind. He became my family before I was downsized. He also made sure then, that I got enough rest and food. Our family bond is even stronger now. Now I not only love him as my best friend, but as a father too. Dr. and Mrs. MacKenzie will never give me that feeling of family, no matter how hard they try. Not even after Dr. MacKenzie has erased my adult memories, he can't erase the feelings from past experiences. So please, Judge. Let Jack be my guardian." Daniel looked at the Judge with huge, hopeful eyes.

The Judge smiled and said, "Don't you worry Dr. Jackson. I think you'll like my verdict. You can go out and get your Jack inside, and tell the others that they can come in too."

Daniel smiled brightly and hurried out to get Jack. He ran directly into Jack's arms.

"Jack, The Judge, is ready to give his verdict. Please hurry. He told me that I was going to like his verdict." Daniel made a sign that he wanted back down on the floor and Jack let him. Daniel took Jack's right hand and dragged him back to the court room.

They all sat and were anxious to hear the Judge's verdict. Daniel's self-appointed family prayed that the Judge did the right thing for their precious Daniel.

"I've heard some good and bad things about both of the opponents. Every child should be allowed to have a mother and a father, but sadly, that can't always be applied. Still, a child can have a safe and happy upbringing with only one parent. How can I separate a child from his father, when both love each other very much? Like a father and son should. So I hereby declare Colonel Jonathan O'Neill, guardian of Dr. Daniel Jerome Jackson."

"I object, Your Honor. Colonel O'Neill isn't Daniel Jackson's father, so you won't separate a father and a son," Dr. MacKenzie's lawyer said.

"My verdict still stands. They're not father and son by blood, but they soon will be on paper. I recently received an adoption application for Daniel Jackson to Jonathan O'Neill." The Judge said while he looked at General Hammond who smiled, and then at Jack, who smiled even brighter, then at Daniel, who cried happy tears and wrapped his arms around his guardian.

"I object!" Dr. MacKenzie's lawyer said again.

"Denied. I ask for everyone who hasn't a 'family' bond to Dr. Jackson and Colonel O'Neill to leave this court room."

Dr. MacKenzie and his lawyer left the room reluctantly.

"Are there others in the court room you don't want to have here for the adoption proceedings?" the Judge asked Daniel and Jack.

"No, Your Honor," Jack and Daniel said in unison.

Daniel looked at Jack. "Are you sure you want to adopt me? You know that I maybe will be an adult again in one to two years. Do you think you'll be able to lose a son again?" Daniel asked worriedly.

"You're already my son, Daniel, and I won't lose you as my son, if you become an adult again in a few years, because you'll still be my son. No matter what. You got that!" Jack said while he looked seriously into Daniel's eyes.

"I got it! I love you, Dad," Daniel said and wrapped his arms around him.

"I love you too, son," Jack said and returned Daniel's hug.

"Are you two ready for the adoption?" the Judge asked with a bright smile on his face.

"Yes, we are. Sorry, your Honor," Jack said.

"That's okay, Colonel. You just did your duty as a father to reassure your son's worries."

~oOo~

After the adoption was settled, General Hammond arranged a party at the SGC. They celebrated till they could see that Daniel was getting very tired. Before the party Jack had arranged for some of airmen to go to his house and set it up for Daniel.

When Jack and Daniel arrived at their home, Jack un-buckled his sleeping son from his booster seat and placed him on his hip. As soon as he had walked through his doorway, he said, "Welcome home, Danny, my son."

Daniel opened his eyes partly and said sleepily, "Thank you, Daddy," and then he went back to sleep.

Jack changed Daniel into his pajamas and tucked him into his new bed.

"Goodnight, son. Don't let the bed bugs bite," Jack said and then gave his son a kiss on his forehead.

He stood for a while in the doorway to Daniel's room and looked at his beloved son. Before he went to the living room, he partly closed Daniel's bedroom door. He wanted to be able to hear Daniel, in case he got one of his nightmares again. He considered buying a baby monitor just to be on the safe side.

Jack sat on the couch and called Rabb. "Harm, I'm sorry that I left without saying a proper goodbye to you. Thank you so much for your help. If you ever get tired of JAG, let me know and I'll help you with a position at the base."

Jack hung up the phone and lay down on the couch, dreaming about his future with his son.

The End

A/N: I hope you liked the ending. And thank you to all who has giving me reviews and put the story on your favourite. Stay tuned for the sequel called From Legacy to Grandparents.


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